Twisted Destiny
by TeaIntoStories
Summary: A long, twisted story about the relationship of a young pair, and how one simple change could mean so very much. What if, say, one young man was, indeed, not chosen by the Goddess? Could he still be the hero everyone needs? Or just a man one girl needs?
1. Sword's Betrayal

Link sat there for some time, just holding a limp, lifeless Zelda. He caressed her hair as he held her, on the great spiralling staircase in the sealed grounds. At the bottom, in the middle of the ring, a portal had opened, and Fi was talking to Groose, warning him about something or another.

Link shouted down to him, "You still have a chance, Groose! If you are able to beat him in time, you can still save Zelda!"

Groose didn't even respond to his words, didn't even care about what was happening to Zelda. He was only in this for the glory, the attention that he would get for saving the world… he didn't care about Her. Zelda was the reason for all of this happening, how couldn't he see that!

But no, as long as he got his meal in the Lumpy Pumpkin and the girls fawning over him all the time, he didn't even bother trying to save Zelda. Link was the one who cared about her… Why isn't he the chosen hero? He looked down at Zelda's, expressionless face and smiled. He walked up the mountains, slowly stroking her face as he was deep in thought.

"Zelda! Zelda!"

Link's eyes snapped open, and suddenly he had gone from flying through the air to his bedroom in the Knights Academy. He sat up in his bed, and realised that Zelda's father, Geapora was watching over him.

Link felt wrong, like he had missed something, and just sat with a blank expression whilst Zelda's father questioned him about his daughter's loss.

After thinking about the past days events, Link went to put his boots on, but was pushed back by Geapora – "Rest now, Peanut. Zelda's going to be fine. She's out there alive. I know it".

Link slowly accepted that he couldn't go against the instructions of his headmaster, and sank back into the bed, planning to rush out as soon as he could to try and find Zelda. 'She could be hurt, or injured, any why wasn't her father bothered by this!'

After Link was sure that Geapora had retired, Link jumped out of bed, and heard a scuffling from a room close to her own. 'Groose better not bust me if he doesn't want a kick in the face'. Link was never normally this angry, but when it came to Zelda, he just couldn't control himself.

He heard Groose run past his room, and Link poked his head out. Groose seemed to be entranced, chasing after something which had already gone up the stairs. He ran up the stairs and Link heard the door open.

Link decided to follow him – he couldn't understand what Groose was doing, but wanted to pay him back for hiding his loftwing the previous day.

He couldn't help feeling that something had gone wrong. But as he followed Groose, his feelings solidified. Groose was making huge leaps, across the deep chasms that were filled with nothing.

He then saw what Groose was following; a small feminine figure, that seemed to be enticing him across. 'Ha, has he already moved on from Zelda? I knew he didn't really love her, like himself…' Wait, what! He didn't love Zelda, they were just… good… friends…

As he made the leap across the gap, his mind drifted toward yesterday, when he was sure Zelda was about to proclaim her love for him… Damn tornados…

He was quickly brought back to the present by the sound of a person tripping over and slamming head first into the ground. He looked to see Groose flat out on the ground, clearly dazed. 'He should be there for a while. Idiot' thought Link.

He walked up to the seemingly asleep body and gave it a kick, just to be sure. As he looked up, he was astounded by what he saw. The wall that had been before him had slowly disappeared, and the strange girl Groose was with had entered the tunnel that the wall was covering, not seeming to notice that her courtier was flat on the floor.

Link followed after her; maybe she knew something about Zelda. He knew she confined in many of the other girls, but had nothing to do with them himself, his eyes only ever being for Zelda.

As Link entered the chamber, he was blown away immediately. The girl he had thought he had seen was not, indeed, some faceless girl from the crowd Link normally passed by, but instead a strange, floating maiden.

She suddenly stated: "There is a 98% chance you are my master. You must take up this sword. As the one chosen by my creator, it is your destiny". When she turned around to look at Link, she uttered: "You are not the man who was following me, but you are here. Take up the sword and fulfil your destiny."

Link walked up to the sword, and gripped the handle. "In the name of my creator, draw the sword and raise it skyward." Link planted his feet, braced himself, and pulled at the sword. And pulled. And pulled. It was futile.

"Come on!" Link shouted, as he put all his effort into trying to dislodge the sword.

"There is an error with my calculations. Your chance of being my master is 0%." Link then heard irregular footsteps behind him, made by someone swaying to and fro, walking into the chamber.

"Get out of my way Link! This is my turn for the glory!" Groose slurred, clearly still not up to date on events. Despite himself, however, he walked up to the pedestal and unceremoniously drew out the sword.

"Master, you must descend to the surface to save the spirit maiden, the one you call Zelda." Link heard Fi say these words, but wasn't listening to her. How could Groose be the hero… Link had always cared for Zelda more, Zelda had always come to him with her problems, and she had hated Groose… So why was HE the damn hero, why is HE able to draw the sword! Link didn't know what to say, and just stormed out of the chamber, kicking over urns and bashing into Geapora going to other way.

"Link! Where is the sword? Are you the chosen-" Geapora was cut off by Link running past him, tears almost coming out of his eyes.

Then Groose strutted out with the master sword on his shoulder and Fi floating after him, saying "This is improbable. This man has only a 3% chance to be my master. But he has taken the sword, so I must follow". And with that, she disappeared into the sword, and disappeared.

"Hey sir! It seems I'm a chosen hero or something". Groose sounded so cocky that Link just wanted to go over and push him over the edge, but only stopped himself because the headmaster was there.

"You are the chosen hero Groose? But…" Geapora's gaze rested on Link for a while, and then looked back to Groose. "Well, we must make haste. You have to descend to the surface and save my daughter!"

Groose laughed at this. "Ha! No disrespect Sir, but I did just get this sword so… I'm going to celebrate! To the Lumpy Pumpkin!" It was dawn now, so Groose walked up to the edge and half tripped, half jumped over the edge, landing ungracefully on his loftwing, and slowly flew off to the eatery where a hot soup breakfast awaited him.

After this, very slowly, with anger in his eyes, Geapora turned back to Link and put his arm round his shoulder, and they walked back to the academy where they both lived.

"A surprising turn of events, Link. I did not expect the prophecy to come true in my lifetime, and I really didn't expect Groose to be the one that it applied to… But I suppose we must live with what we are given, right Link?"

Geapora's joking attitude and calm words did nothing to soothe the boy, who was still boiling with anger and rage and sadness for what had happened. "But then again…"

Their walk had taken them past a platform that was made for people to jump off, which in fact was the same one that Link had jumped off in the Wings Ceremony the previous day. Geapora stopped walking, and faced link towards the sky.

"As Groose has just gone off to eat in the Lumpy Pumpkin… Who says you can't get a head start?" Link Blinked back his tears of rage and sadness, and looked up to his headmaster.

"Groose has a sword sir, and all I have is this practice one…" Geapora then drew out his own sword, and placed it in Links hand, then gestured to the platform. Link threw his practice sword into the ground, and inspected this new, gleaming sword. It was made in the Baazar's forge, and was clearly a work of art.

Although it was nothing compared to sword Groose had just claimed, Link was going to take anything he could get. He spotted a glowing light in the distance that wasn't there before, and decided that he was going to go there. It was as good as any place to start.

With a nod from Geapora, Link dashed off the edge of the world. With hope in his heart and a sword on his back, Link set off to try and become the hero. Even if he couldn't be chosen, he was damn well going to try.


	2. Idiots Now, Idiots Before

'Damnit! Why can't I just open the damn door!' Link thought to himself, as he slumped against a tree in despair. He had been trying to open the door for almost half a day, and none of his techniques worked. If only he could actually do something, he wouldn't feel this depressed… Maybe he should just go back up to skyloft and let Groose do all the work.

No! He can't just give up like this, he can't! He can't let Groose be the one who is famed, Groose cant be the person who is admired by everyone. But most of all, he cant be the one to save Zelda. Zelda had always hated Groose, and Link and Zelda were always spending every minute they had together when they were young. Even so… He could use a few minutes of rest. He made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, and slowly slipped into a deep sleep…

"Link! Over here!" A voice called to Link and he turned around, seeing his childhood friend flying over his head and landing behind him. He was playfully punched on the shoulder, and Link turned around again to hug his best friend.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere Link!" Zelda returned his hug maybe for a moment to long, and Link could feel the heat of her body through her dress. They pulled away awkwardly.

"So… Want to go do something" Said Link, trying to break the tension over what had just happened.

"Yeah, sure!" Zelda bounced away, dragging Link by his hand. He followed with no complaint – Zelda always did this to him.

"Lets go to the Baazar!" Zelda chirped happily. She started to pull Link towards her favourite group of shops. She had always liked the Bazaar, and Link didn't mind humouring her. He loved seeing her happy, and it was defiantly worth having to look at dresses all day.

When they got there, Zelda walked round all the shops pushing different dresses against herself and asking what Link thought of them. He would always say they looked nice, but it wasn't really the dresses; Zelda looked stunning whatever she wanted to wear.

"Link? Helloooo?" Zelda had noticed his eyes looking into the distance as he agreed with her about various dresses.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking…" Link REALLY didn't want to tell her what he was just thinking, but the quizzical look in her face forced it out of him.

"It's just… you look really pretty in that dress". He immediately regretted telling her and he looked away instantly, fiddling with an instrument on the table.

He looked back at her, fearing her reaction, hoping that she would just laugh it off as a joke.

_''Ummmm...'' muttered Zelda. She too nervous of what she was about to say. ''Do you... Do you want to go down to the waterfall?''_

_Link immediately perked up - the waterfall was one of his favourite places in Skyloft, maybe even more favoured by him than the Lumpy Pumpkin itself!_

_He and Zelda walk along the path, their recent awkwardness forgotten; that was, until Zelda took his hand in hers. He was normally used to this, but he felt like there was something different about this time._

_The pair eventually reached the waterfall, and stood, looking out over small lake, both deep in thought. Zelda rested her head on Link's shoulder, and let out a contented sigh as Link prised their hands apart and put his arm over Zelda's shoulder. _

_Zelda didn't want to interrupt this perfect moment with her best friend, but this DID seem the best moment to talk to him about her... feelings._

''Link, there been something I want to talk about'' she said, whilst they were both staring out over the serene picture of the bay.

_''Hey, is this about that chocolate in your room. Cause I SWEAR it wasn't me! I'm telling you, a bird flew in...'' _

_Can he ever be serious for once! ''No Link, its not about the chocolate, I'm _sure _there is a bird out there who has been stealing all the candy from my room,'' a smile escaped her lips, despite herself, "but can we be serious now?"_

_Link looked down at her, using his free hand to tilt her chin upwards, allowing them to look deep into each other's eyes._

_"Are you alright Zelda? Has something happened?" His features were suddenly full of concern, his eyes searching her face for some kind of hint of what she was going to say._

_'Now or never...' Zelda thought._

_"Link, I-"_

_"WHOOOOOOO" *splash*_

_Zelda sighed. For not the first time, Groose had... Had... Had just fucked things up. Again._

_Link's eyes were drawn to the rush of water heading towards them at eye level, the product of Groose's 30-metre high cannonball dive from his Loftwing._

_They were briefly drenched by water, before being showered by an even more annoying ball of hot air, called Groose. _

_"Did you see THAT? Haha! Of course, it would have been better done from 100 metres, but I've got to at least try and let you catch up, eh Link?"_

_After getting absolutely no response from Link, he turned to Zelda and said, "Hey, I bet that was pretty impressive to you right?" He then looked Zelda up and down and then, completely unaware of Link glare at the back of his neck, said, "You look really fetching in that dress of yours, Zelda. Your going to look good up on that statue with me, when I wi-"._

Zelda's clumsy swipe at his face missed only because Link got there first, pushing Groose into the water with an almightily shove. The pair then ran off together, laughing at what had just happened, but also leaving a bewildered and battered Groose gasping for air at the pool.

Link shook his head, bringing himself back to the present and back to the woods. He stood up and stretched, looking around him. He noticed one of the doors was open, and strolled through it.

It was now that he began to taken in his surroundings. The area was brighter than it seemed to be a few minutes ago, but it was the afternoon now... And it was the evening before...

Had he really slept through a whole day! No, he can't have, he was alert and... and...

Damnit! Why did he have to revert to old habits now! He broke into a run, trying to make up for lost time, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

Groose was relaxing next to a pond of sorts, relieving himself of the stress of the day. Well, most of the day. Most of most of the day. Most of some of the day. The walk down here.

Still, he must be in the zone down here, in Grooseland. Nothing should distract him from his duty, which was why it was so important to take frequent breaks.

What he didn't expect was a violent kick up the arse, followed by an ungraceful belly flop into the water in front of him.

"Doing good Groose?" Link laughed cheerily, clearly satisfied with his technique of shocking the soaking character in front of him. "Still cannonballing, eh?"

"Your gonna pay for that Link!" Groose shouted, pulling himself out of the water and grabbing his sword.

"Ohhhh, scary are we now Groose?" Link was prepared to mock Groose for all it was worth, simply to disperse his anger at the chain of events.

Link then pulled out the Headmaster's sword, and held it casually, pointing it at Groose's feet. He knew he had nothing to lose, and wasn't likely to lose a fight with Groose anyway, considering that the mans previous prowess with a sword was uncannily like Zelda's; a complete lack of aim and the strength of what could only be a toddler.

Groose, pointing his sword at Link, ran at him and lunged. Link, jumping backwards, dodged, rolled to the side, and then pushed Groose, knocking him down. Link smiled to himself, thinking to himself, 'This is going to be fun!'.

Groose stood up again and started to circle him, Link matching him so they are both circling each other. Groose feigned left, and then slashed right, catching Link off guard and making him take a step back to parry the slash at his chest.

"What's this, Groose? New loftwings learning old tricks?" Taunted Link, but in truth, he was scared. He felt the power of the blow that came at him, and was now worried.

'Has Groose also gone to see the training hall master? He must have done, there was no way he could have gotten that good! Unless...'

Link looked down at the sword, and noticed how firmly Groose held the sword... And also what the sword was doing.

Before he could react, the master sword jumped from Groose's hand and sprang at Link, cutting at his sword and forcing Link to the ground.

The floating sword then spun around and knocked his sword out of his hand, then threw itself at Groose's feet.

"Why didn't you finnish him Fi!" Shouted Groose who, from Link's perspective, was shouting at the sword. "Why did you beat him if you won't kill him?"

Link was stunded by the current situation; he had just been beaten down with a sword that was flying in rhe air. 'What just happened?'

Then he became aware of another being in the forest with them. He looked at the figure and then realised it was the same creature that Groose had been following the first day.

'This must be Fi' thought Link.

"I didn't end his life because it would be illogical to do so. This man is 26% stronger than you, 69% more skilled than you, and had a higher chance to be my master." Her voice was calm and controlled, considering what she was saying.

"So? I want him gone!"

"I will not allow myself to be used in such a way. I am the Master Sword, a being created for destroying evil, not creating it with schemes." Link couldn't understand why she was not shouting, considering what she was saying.

"Damnit Fi! Why do you have to be so incompetent! 'Ohhhh, Groose, don't cut down that tree, it doesn't do anything, ohhh, don't stab that Goron, he's just trying to help you, ohhhh, don't kill your friend, he's better than you.' Goddess, your so dumb Fi!"

"Maybe she doesn't want to do those things Groose." Link said calmly, reaching out to Fi without touching her.

"She said she was mine! She should do as I say!" Groose shouted, and kicked the rock next to him, making something tinkle from underneath it, then stormed off into the woods.

"Well come on Fi!" He shouted, before disappearing entirely in the bushes.

Fi turned and looked at Link, and spoke softly: "He makes me perform… favours on him. But it is my duty to do as he says, as the one who is my master is the one who draws the sword. You had an 89% chance to be a better master. It would have been logical that it was you."

The way she said the last words made it seem as if she was saying, 'I wish it was you'. Link was touched, and felt bad for Fi as she too disappeared into the forest, probably to perform a… 'Favour' she had called it. Disgusting. He WOULD hurt Groose next time he saw him, and make him pay for abusing this gift given to him.

And with that final thought, he proceeded to his next objective. Goddess knew what it was, but he was getting there before Groose.


	3. A Saucy Outing

Look at him, over there, standing with all the so called 'knights'. All so full of himself, with his magic sword and his boasting and his stories. The ones that should include ME!'

Link silently sat at his side table in the Lumpy Pumpkin, brooding over his thoughts and shooting daggers at Groose every time he so much as laughed. He hated Groose for taking his destiny, the one that should rightly be his!

But no more time to think about that. He and Groose were something of a team now, but you couldn't tell it from the way Groose told his stories.

'Ah, now he's showing off the flying bug machine...' Link had no idea what any of these objects were called, and refused to call them the 'Grooseenator', the 'Grooseifier' or even the 'Grooseomatic'. Stupid names for a stupid guy.

"Link? Seem to have lost you, mate!" Pipit said cheerfully, over the table from the man himself.

"Oh... Yeah, sorry about that." Said Link chirpily, trying to convince Pipit that he hadn't just been thinking of a way to knock the chandelier down on Groose's head.

"So, how's it been with Karane then? Still going steady?" Link asked inquisitively, trying to distract Pipit from Groose's loud story about how he slayed 'A mighty dragon with 7... No, wait, 15 heads!' Idiot...

"Oh, you know Link. The same as usual, with no more _goings on _than usual. Goddess, it's like she never puts out!" Pipit whined.

This snapped Link out of his mood. 'Pipit never talks about this stuff... He must be really frustrated.'

"Honestly it just makes me want to visit the house below the... Wait, forget I said that." Pipit said hurriedly, quickly drinking up his soup and bread. "More pumpkin stew, Link?"

"Wait what do you mean, the house below? Below Skyloft? Answer me Pipit!" Said Link, as Pipit was looking round the room, trying to see an escape out of his situation.

"Okay, look" Pipit caved, "its only rumour and such! It's just... Look, apparently, beneath the main town, there is this house. It's hidden beneath, and is said to be built into the rock, hiding it from all but the most persistent searcher. And inside are... Women."

"Is that all? There are plenty of women on the surface too you know." Link stated, but he did have a vague idea where this could be going.

"Well, that's not _entirely _all that's there. The girls there are... Shall we say, loose?" Pipit tried to laugh, to ease the awkwardness of trying to explain ladies of the night to his younger friend.

Link's face remained blank, however, so Pipit decided to put it bluntly.

"Look, they are girls who pleasure guys for rupees, ok? There, I said it!" Snapped Pipit, and leaned back in his chair.

Link felt shocked at first, but he too had heard the rumours; of girls sneaking off, only to come back with pockets full of rupees the next day, and of boys disappearing at night only to have a huge smile the next day and stories about 'this girl'.

"If it's hidden, how could anyone find it?" Enquired Link, in a slightly suspicious way.

"Well," said Pipit, ignorant of his friends unnatural question, "apparently it only opens at night, and. And so there's no way to get to the bottom without some clever thinking.

"Huh..." Link had solved some decent puzzles in his time as Groose's 'sidekick', and thought he already knew how.

His train of thought was interrupted by Groose shouting in his ear, drunkenly, "Hey! Little man! I'm turning in here, so fix yourself up for the night, cause I got no more rupees to spare!"

And with that, Groose stumbled up the stairs, with an attractive girl Link mentally named 'Fangirl #2', and fell into his room with her.

'If he is doing that, why the hell can't I! He will probably even get Zelda by the end! Wait... Zelda...'

'I don't want to betray her, do I? But she will fall in love with the chosen hero, with HIM in the end, is what the stories say. But maybe they are wrong...'

'Oh what the hell, a look couldn't hurt, could it?'

And with that thought, and with the sound of "I'm not doing threesomes here Groose! Who even is this girl, and what do you mean she's your sword!", Link walked out of the Pumpkin and called out for his loftwing, riding it until the sun went down and he could meet with these 'girls'.

(((((((())))))))

'Is it even here?' Link asked himself, as he flew under Skyloft in his vain attempt to try and find this hidden hideout. He had been flying well over an hour now, and from the occasional whines and moans from his bird, he knew he couldn't do so for much longer.

As he was just about to give up and fly back to his room at the academy, he saw a faint flicker of light on one of the rocks. 'There!'

He dashed towards it on his loftwing, and, sure enough, a kind of retractable door had opened, and sure enough, there was a hidden room behind it. Link skilfully flew his loftwing through the hole, and then unskilfully fell off his loftwing onto the hard wooden floor.

"Arg!" He shouted, as he bashed his head against the floorboards. He looked up and noticed a lack of anything around him: no chairs, no tables, no bed, no damn carpet! 'And you would have thought the bed would be essential in a place like this!'

"Damn! Why is there no one here? A hidden room with no purpose? I mean, just why?"

"Oh, I thought I heard someone come in." Said a voice behind him. He looked around slowly and his jaw dropped.

"Karane! What are YOU doing here!" Link exclaimed, surprised that Pipit's girlfriend, (as he had set them up a week ago), was in a place like this.

Karane also looked surprised, and she also voiced her horror: "What am I doing here? Link, you shouldn't even know about this place! Who told you!"

"Well... Uhhh..." Link didn't really want to tell her that Pipit had been speaking about this place, as he could imagine her reaction when he told her that her boyfriend knew about a brothel. It would start with a slap, and work its way up.

"Well, never mind who told you." Link breathed out a sigh of relief. "You shouldn't even be here, Link! Your far too young."

"I'm to young?" Link replied angrily. "Your only TWO years older than me Karane! YOUR too young to work here!"

"Oh, about that..." Karane said, blushing for the first time Link had ever seen. "No, I work for them, I just don't... Participate in the way the others do. I just take the booking and... Groups..." She was blushing more deeply now, and looked away from Link's 'really...?' face.

"Look, it's true! Pipit would get suspicious if I wasn't... Unbroken!" She was half angry, and half embarrassed, and her face was the reddest he had ever seen.

"Hey, don't turn this on me! Your the one that has come here!" Now it was Link's turn to blush, as he looked away from Karane's face, to the floor.

"It's just... Uhhh!" Link groaned, trying to explain the pent up anger that he had built up over his time working with Groose.

"Okay, let me explain." Karane was still staring at him, unabashed. "It's just, I've been down on the surface with Groose, and it is always "me this, me that!" My god, it's so annoying! I just... I just want it to be about ME for a change!"

Karane's face slowly softened as she listened, and eventually went over to him, took his arm, and led him to the door she came out of, as Link continued talking:

"It's when he brags about the defeating of the huge monsters that I have to weaken, its talking with the other knight's about his exploits, and the worst part is about him 'claiming his prize' with Zelda!"

It was then that he realised he was shouting his words right at Karane. He calmed himself down, but that didn't dispel the look of shock on her face. "Sorry." He said briefly, and stopped walking when they reached the door.

"Wow..." Whispered Karane, as she gently rubbed Link shoulder. "You seem... Really stressed. Perhaps it is a good idea for you to come here. You seem really angry about... Well, about Zelda."

"Did I?" Replied Link. "It's just, this whole situation just pisses me off! Why is he this so-called chosen hero?" He looked down at his feet. "It should have been me." He said softly.

Karane pulled his face up by his chin and stared into his beautiful eyes. "Link, you seem really beat up about this... Is there anything else?"

Link didn't really want to go into this much detail, but he had already poured his heart out to Karane, and she probably wouldn't be surprised about what he was about to say.

"I'm in love with Zelda. I love her, but I cannot do anything about it. I can't tell her now, I can't search for her because Groose has my damn sailcloth, and I can't even sleep without worrying about her. And you know the worst thing? It's all futile. Because I'm not the hero. _He _is."

"I haven't got any chance with her, Karane. We used to be best friends, but who is she going to fall for? The big guy in the expensive armour, or the dim sidekick who has visited a damn brothel?"

Link looked at Karane again, and it surprised him to see that she was crying. He quickly pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her until she could speak again.

"Th- thi-... This is why she will choose you Link. You care. You love her. No matter what Groose is, no matter how much he tries to rescue her, he doesn't have a chance. He doesn't care about her the way you do, he doesn't feel that she matters, he just thinks of her as a... What was it? A prize?"

"Look at yourself, Link! You don't love me, but you care about me crying. You care about the world! I've heard countless complaints about Groose, how he is violent and stupid. Your clever Link! Use your brain!"

Link nodded to her words, and by the time she was done, he was smiling at her. "Thank you, Karane. I cannot thank you enough!" He hugged her again, and she hugged him back, laughing at his positive mood.

"So..." Karane said, as they broke apart. "I guess you won't be needing our... Services, then, right?"

Link laughed at her question. "Ha! I guess your right. Oh, and don't worry; I won't tell Pipit you work here. Even if you don't 'work' here."

"You know Link, after hearing everything you said, I think I might quit. Pipit deserves more than just daytime fun, if you know what I mean..." Karane winked at Link. "And I certainly learned a few tricks!"

And with that, Link happily jumped back onto his loftwing and, with a final wave to Karane, flew off into the night.

(((((((())))))))

Link jumped back onto the Lumpy Pumpkin island, landing gracefully and running towards the door. Opening it, he rushed inside.

"Link?" Exclaimed Pipit, who was standing near the counter. "Why are you back here?"

Link smiled at Pipit, and walked over to him. "Oh, I was just out and about and I decided to come over here and give Groose a kick up the arse, you know? For old times sake?"

Pipit laughed. "Well, he is upstairs in room one. Give him one from me!"

As Link walked back to the stairs, he remembered something and turned back to Pipit. "Oh, you should run back to the academy! Someone's waiting there for you. And boy, is she happy!"

As he left a slightly bemused Pipit downstairs, he walked in on Groose and saw that he was, happily, sleeping alone again.

He went up to the bed and shoved Groose onto the floor, shouting in his ear: "Get up, you lazy sod! We are going to save Zelda."

Groose groaned, and got onto his knees. "Wha? Link, it's night! Go away!"

Pulling him up, Link looked at his face. Somehow, his stupid hair was still in perfect shape.

"We are going back down to the surface. And I'm going to save Zelda."

"You mean we, Link."

"You're certainly going to help."

Groose went to pick up his sword and shield. He was slightly wary of Link acting this way, because of the normally depressed and annoyed vibe he normally gave off.

"Why do you want to save her so much Link?" Groose said, in a mocking tone. "Is it because you _loveeeee _her?" Link just walked out of the room to rest on the banister until Groose got ready.

When he finally walked out, he went over to Link and said, "Link, really, what is going on? Why didn't you just leave me to sleep? And why are you so worked up about Zelda, that little slut… I'd do stuff to her that yo-"

His speech was cut off by a shove over the banisters, where he landed on his back and groaned.

"I'll take this," said Link, walking downstairs and taking Groose's sailcloth. "You won't be needing it for a while. I'll come back when I need your help. Don't wait around." And with that, he took the sailcloth Groose had stolen from him, and walked outside into the cold morning, and left Groose on the ground, winded and slightly pissed. 'It's what he deserves by now.'


	4. Groose And His Failures

**(I've tried to make some changes to the stuff that I did before, because I didn't properly mark where scene's changed. From now on, they will be marked with a **(((((((())))))))**, so nothing else gets mixed up. Thanks for reading, please R&R! This is the part at the start of my story, so it's continuing.)**

Link sat there for some time, just holding a limp, lifeless Zelda. He caressed her hair as he held her, on the great spiralling staircase in the sealed grounds. At the bottom, in the middle of the ring, a portal had opened, and Fi was talking to Groose, warning him about something or another. Link shouted down to him, "You still have a chance, Groose! If you are able to beat him in time, you can still save Zelda!"

Groose didn't even respond to his words, didn't even care about what was happening to Zelda. He was only in this for the glory, the attention that he would get for saving the world… he didn't care about Her. Zelda was the reason for all of this happening, how couldn't he see that! But no, as long as he got his meal in the Lumpy Pumpkin and the girls fawning over him all the time, he didn't even bother trying to save Zelda. Link was the one who cared about her… Why isn't he the chosen hero? He looked down at Zelda's, expressionless face and smiled. He walked up the mountains, slowly stroking her face as he was deep in thought.

He looked back down to the bottom to see Groose going through the portal, following Demise. 'For the first time, I hope he actually wins…'

He looked down at the body he had in his arms. She was limp… lifeless… dead….

Was she dead? Was Groose going to be able to beat him? What if he failed? What if he was never able to tell Zelda…That he loved her…

He was at the top of the dirt staircase when he looked at Zelda's face again.

"Zelda… there are so many things I need to say. About you… about me… about my feelings…" He couldn't get the words out, even without her listening.

"Zelda… I… it's just that I… the way I feel about you… I lo-"

"Weak, stupid child! Trying to face me!" A huge crunch was heard, and another portal opened at the bottom of the pit, where the last one was.

"You never had a chance against me!" Shouted a loud, booming voice.

Demise won.

"No!" Shouted Link, putting Zelda down and looking down at Demise, who threw a beaten Groose to the floor. He was barely alive.

"Ha! Another human! Perhaps you would like to joust?" He taunted, holding his huge sword between thumb and forefinger and doing a pose, with one arm behind his back, mocking Link. Demise was clearly ecstatic with the easy defeat of the Chosen Hero.

A storm had started to brew, and a harsh wind blew from where Demise was standing.

"To scared, little human? Ha! Pathetic things!" He turned and pointed his sword downwards, holding it in both hands over a still breathing Groose.

'I can't just let him die! I can't let Zelda die!' But Link was helpless, and would not be able to get down to the ground before Groose died. He put Zelda on the ground, and returned to the edge.

Then, as if by magic, the Master Sword started to move. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, it hovered into the air, spinning round and round towards the place where Link was standing. It gained height until it was eventually at Link's level.

"What's this? Some kind of trick?" Demise shouted, pausing in his attempt to finally end the Chosen Hero.

Then Fi appeared, hovering next to the flying sword. She looked weird, twisted, like she was weakened in some way.

She uttered one word. "Help."

She then disappeared, and with a final act of power, the sword was flung into Link's outstretched hand.

"How is this possible?" Shouted Demise, who readied himself against attack.

Link slowly turned around and looked at Zelda's face, uttering the words, "I love you." Then he walked a few feet away from the edge of the ridge, and with a huge storm trying to blow him over, and the clouds turning red, and with Link boiling with hate and anger and sorrow, he propelled himself off the ledge, soaring off towards Demise.

He held the Master Sword pointing skyward, and as he quickly descended towards Demise, a lightning bolt hit his sword, charging it with huge power.

The pain surged through his arm, but he held onto the sword. 'The things I do for love...'

Then, in midair, he pointed the sword down towards Demise, and their swords met for an instant before Demise was crushed beneath the weight of the blow Link delivered him. Link himself was then thrown to the wall opposite, and dented the dirt wall with the weight of the impact.

As what he thought would be his last words on the world, he slowly said: "It was worth it. For you."

And with that, his last breath left his body, and he died, thinking of love and Zelda and fairies.

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Zelda woke up.

She was lying down in front of the temple, dazed and alone. She heard someone groaning, like they were in pain. Come to think of it, she didn't feel to good either.

As she slowly got up, and shook herself into life, she then remembered what was happening.

'He tried to take my soul...' She thought, before running to the edge and looking down. Beside the huge corpse of her would be murderer, there was a man or a boy getting up and straightening out his clothes. Was that...

"Link! Link!" She shouted from the top, waving down towards her friend.

But it wasn't Link who looked up. With his face singed, and are armour scratched and bent, Groose looked up to face her. She was taken aback by this turn of events: she had always thought Link was the one coming to save her, and that he was the one doing this for her.

But Groose? Why has he done this? Defeated Demise… for me?

As she started to walk down, Groose walked over and inspected the dead Demise. As he did this, the body slowly started to dissolve into the air, and a ghostly figure started to talk to him. Zelda couldn't make out the words, but from Groose's frightened face, they looked like threats.

When she finally reached the bottom, the ghost-like being disappeared, and Groose was left facing empty air.

"Well Zelda. Long time no see I guess. Looks like I won…" Groose stood a little higher. 'Yeah, he had just gone up against the greatest evil there was. Yeah! He was great!'

"Groose, shut up." Snapped Zelda. She didn't much care for his boasting. "Groose, where is Link? I knew he was here somewhere, I could feel him."

Groose's face drooped, and he looked shamed, almost sad. "Have you not seen… he's behind you…" Despite his sad words, Zelda turned around with a big smile on her face, to greet her friend for the first time in what seemed like years.

But she was disappointed. There was no one behind her. She looked back to Groose critically. "Link isn't here Groose! Stop lying and tell me where he is!"

"Zelda…" He now looked pained, like he was trying to explain a hard truth to someone.

"Groose? What's happened? Where is Link? Why isn't he here!" She ended up shouting at him, in her desperation to find her one true friend.

"Zelda, he is behind you…" He looked behind her, and for some reason Zelda looked down. Next to the wall, wearing armour that was the colour of the grass, was a body.

"Oh, he's there. Come on Link, wake up! I want to speak to you…" Zelda teased, but was slightly worried by his lack of movement. 'Was he hurt?'

Groose coughed, and Zelda turned to him again. "Yeah, he's not going to wake up any time soon…" He spoke the words as if they were painful to him.

"Why? Is he injured?" Zelda ran over to Link, and turned him over. "Link? Wake up! Damnit Link, stop doing this! What's wrong with him Groose?" She glanced over to Groose, her eye's wide open and her face worried. "Wake him up Groose!"

Groose came over to her and put a hand armour her shoulder, which she shrugged off, almost violently. "Zelda… I'm sorry…"

She was crying now, and was shaking him, in a vain attempt to see his beautiful blue eyes again. "Wake up Link! Wa-Wake up!"

Groose knelt down by Link and put two fingers to his neck, then shook his head. "Zelda. I'm sorry. He's gone."

"No!" she shouted, through her sobs. "He can't have died! He was coming to save me! He isn't gone! No!" She was sobbing now, her cries echoing off the dirt walls around them. "Wake up… Please…"

Groose slowly pulled Zelda away from Link, but she was pulling against him and struggling to try and get Link to awaken. He held her until she stopped struggling, and then just held her, sobbing, in his arms.

"But… Bu-But he's the hero! How did he fail?" She cried, not managing to say the full sentence in one go.

"Zelda, he isn't the chosen one… I am." He pulled up her chin and looked into her eyes, staring deep into them. 'Damn, she is really cute when she is crying…'

Groose moved his face to Zelda's, and kissed her. Her eyes stayed wide open in shock, before pushing him away forcefully.

"How dare you! You think that just because Link's dead and your supposedly my '_hero_', you can have your way with me?" She walked back to Link and went on her knee's next to him, stroking his hair as she slowly cried.

Groose looked ashamed, as Zelda was the one girl who had really rejected him. He went over to Link and picked him up, getting ready to pull him up to the top of the stairs.

They eventually reached the top to the stairs, with Zelda following behind, falling into a depressed mood. 'I was going to finally tell him I loved him… Now he's dead. After everything he had went through, he deserved more than that. He deserved to know…'

When they reached the top, Groose dropped Link onto the floor, much to the distaste of Zelda. They heard a small tinkle coming from his bag.

They then both turned towards a figure that appeared before them: Fi had regained some of her power, and was now able to talk to them.

"You must now place me back in my holder, where I will eternally slumber. Master." No words of affection, no words of feeling. She really didn't care about Groose.

"Fi… No, I'm not going to do that! You're my sword, why shouldn't I keep you? Yeah, your not going anywhere."

"But master, my purpose is served. Return me to my pedestal. Please." The pleading coming from her voice sounded weird when she said it so neutrally.

"Pah… Your staying with me, Fi." Groose turned away from Fi, and an angry Zelda, and witnessed something magical.

Behind Zelda and Groose, a fairy had been released from its bottle and was flying around Link's body.

Zelda's eyes filled with new hope as she witnessed the scene. "Yes! Heal him! Please wake up Link!" She rushed to his side again, and kneeled down by his side.

The fairy zipped around his body, and Link took an intake of breath. "Yes! Link! Look at me!"

The fairy finished flying around Link, and came to hover next to Zelda. She put out her hand and the fairy perched on her finger.

"Thank you." Uttered Zelda. The fairy moved slightly, like it was bowing, and then disappeared from view.

She looked down at Link again, but was concerned. He was breathing, and he was alive, but he wasn't awake… What was wrong?

"I think he'll just need some time Zelda. That fairy was a little late…" Said Groose, sensing what she was thinking. In truth, he was a little worried… 'What if she tells him I kissed her? Damn, I shouldn't have done that… Damn damn damn!'

And with that, the trio went into the temple, Groose carrying Link, and went into the temple to meet with Impa, the mysterious woman.

**(So I know that sometimes I write a bit weirdly, so here is a summary: Link is in a coma, Zelda got kissed. Pretty long for such a small thing, but meh.)**


	5. Waking Up, Finally

**Hey, it's me here. So my stories arn't really getting the number of views or reviews that I would like, (the last one getting a total of 0) so if this one doesn't get many views or reviews I'll start something new, or maybe just stop alltogether. Thanks for reading!**

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_2 weeks after the events._

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Link stirred in his bed, being shaken whilst he was trying to get some sleep. He moaned at them, trying to get them to leave him alone.

Hang on... There was something important that had just happened, wasn't there? He only had the wispers of memories, but he remembered... Dying?

Well, if this was heaven, he didn't know why he was being shaken out of bed. Surely he could sleep in at heaven...

"Link! Link! I know your awake, just open your eyes! Please Link"

Someone was shouting at him about something or another. The only person who could get him out of bed was Zelda.

_Zelda._

He sat bolt upright in his bed, and opened his eye's wide, despite the tiredness he felt.

There she stood infront of him, beaming at him and... Crying?

He insantly get out of his bed and gave her a bone-crushing hug. For some reason she didn't return the hug, and just stood rigid, still.

"Zelda, what's wrong?" He asked quickly, pulling away from her and looking into her eyes.

"Uh... Link..." She laughed quietly, which took the edge off the situation.

"Link... Your naked!" She laughed the last semtence out, then turned away to hide her embarrisment.

Link blushed, and ran back to the bed he had jumped out of. He then realised where he was; why was he in Zelda's room? And why was he naked here?

After Link had got back under the covers, he said, "Zelda... What's going on? I don't understand... And why am I in your room?"

"Don't you know? Oh... Of course you wouldn't... How silly of me. You've been asleep for two weeks Link, after the fight with Demise."

He then had vaguely happened. Groose had been beaten down...? Then Fi gave him the master sword, then he... Jumped down?

He then remembered what had happened when he reached the bottom. He had been flung against the walls by Demise...

"Is this heaven? I thought I died... But your here..." Link asked, confused over the situation.

"No, your happily not. You had a fairy in your bag, but it couldn't get out of it's jar. It was just a bit late, so you were put into a deep sleep for a while."

"Well, that explains that. But why arn't I wearing clothes...?"

"Oh..." She looked away again, like she had been caught or something.

"It's just that after the first few days of your coma, the people looking after you just started to get bored, so I asked them to move you into my room, where I could properly care for you."

Link smiled, happy with the thought that Zelda obviously still cared for him. But...

"You didn't answer my question. Why have I lost my tunic?"

She looked more embarrised now that the question was forced.

"You were still suffering from injuries after you were brought back, and your armour had dug into your body in some places. We had to tear it apart in some places, but eventually it became so ripped and destroyed that the boys just stripped you. I didn't see anything..."

Link sighed in releif at her words, but was still pretty tense. "You think there's a chance you could fetch some for me? I can hardly walk to my room like _this_"_._

Zelda blushed again, and mumbled acceptance, exiting her room to walk over to Link's.

She met Karane outside, talking to Pipit outside her own room. She instantly skipped over to give her the good news.

"Karane!" She shouted, making the pair jump.

"What is it Zelda?" Asked Karane. They both were as close as sisters, and Karane could almost tell what she was going to say.

"Link has finally woke up!" She shouted, in excitement. Karane beamed with her, and pulled her into a hug.

"Finally... I thought he was never going to wake up. That's great!" Said Karane back, after the pair had stopped bouncing up and down in happiness.

"Hang on" said Pipit, who had drew away from the extatic pair in something resembling fright. "If he has just woken up, why are you out here? He's not in your bed for no reason Zelda!"

Zelda looked at Pipit, stunned by his words. "You really think we moved him into your room so you could keep him better? We moved him so YOU could be with him when he woke."

Zelda still looked stunned, but asked, "You did this?"

"I made him, Zelda." Said Karane. "He helped me with Pipit when I was a bit... Weak. I thought I should help you two get along, after everything he did for you. Anyway, get back in there!"

Zelda hugged Karane again in thanks before walking back to her room, leaving Pipit asking, "Yeah, I forgot to ask, how DID Link know you were waiting in my room wearing nothing but a-"

Zelda closed her door, and sighed. Ever since those two had bedded eachother, they were annoying to be around. Typical couple...

She turned to her bed to see Link sleeping peacefully, and she didn't have the heart to wake him up, not even after her conversation with Karane. She just got out the collpasble bed from under and table and made herself comfortable, thinking of how she could ever tell Link she loved him.

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Link opened his eyes again, and saw he was still in Zelda's bed. Thankfully, there were fresh clothes by the side of his bed, and after checking there was no-one around, he got dressed and walked outside.

He was a bit unhappy that Zelda wasn't in her room again... Where was she? And on that note, where was anyone? The normally buzzing rooms and corridoors were strangly deserted.

Link walked past the rooms, making his way outside, when he heard a strange kind of buzzing comming from Groose's room. He went in to investigate; the sound seemed wierd, otherworldly even, and he was curious.

When he opened the door, he saw a... Strange sight.

The master sword was lying in the middle of the room, with a strange magical glow circling around it. Next to the magical circle it was creating, Fi was floating, and was looking fuzzy, like it was hard for her to control her shape.

She looked like she was doing any meanial task, but you could never tell with her: she looked the same wether she was talking about the weather, or telling you that your loved one was in grave danger.

"I would say that you and me have a 84% chance to be what you would call friends. I therefore imply that you have a 74% chance of liking me enough to do me, what you would call, a favour."

It took him.a bit of time to understand what she was saying, but eventually he understood.

"You need help, Fi? I'll hapilly help one who was so vital to my... Our success."

She nodded her head, in what he guessed was thanks. "I need you to take me back to my pedastal. On the surface. Due to the useage of my power in the fight with the Demon Lord, I have drained my power to less than 1%. I am not able to do this task myself."

"I shall be happy to return you Fi. But why are you up here anyway, if you want to be on the surface?" He enquired, not knowing about before.

"You were incapacitated when I expressed my wish to be left there. My master refused."

Link was shocked. He didn't expect even Groose to be such an arse. "I'll pay him back for that Fi. I promice you."

"I ask you not to hurt my Master, as that will be illogical. However, there is an 87% chance that humiliating his behavoir will work just as well."

And with that, she vanished into the sword, and the magic surrounding it also disappeared.

"I'll be back this night Fi. I don't want everyone to think I am a theif AND a sidekick." He chuckled, before remembering that humour was lost on Fi. Bad humour was also lost on her.

Leaving the room, he shook his head at the lack of his own humour, and went to look for the others.

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Link came back to his room fairly happy. He had talked to almost everyone on the island, and everyone seemed ectatic to see him. Expecially Pipit: they had just talked for full on 20 minutes, before being interupted by Karane.

He had come back to the academy with them both, animatedly chatting to them both about his experiences down at the surface. He promiced to take them both down there before Karane paused, taking Link's arm and telling Pipit to go on.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute, Pip. I just need to speak to Link for a second." She said, giving Pipit a quick peck before waiting for him to go to her room.

"What's this about Karane?" Link asked, but he was awkward around someone he had poured his heart out to less than a month before.

"So Link... How did it go last night?" She asked, winking secretly.

"How did what go?" He asked, genuininlu stumped.

"You mean... You and Zelda didn't..." She looked embarrised, like she was when she was below the island.

"No, we haven't... Yet. I only just woke up! Do you expect us to be all over each other the first time I woke!"

"Well... Yeah..." She mumbled, and looked searching for words. "You two were always perfect for each other! Why haven't you told her you love her!" She punched his arm, angry at him.

"I don't know! I haven't even seen her today! I was talking to you and Pipit!" He shouted back, a little peeved that Karane remembered that he said he loved her as he rubbed him arm.

"Look, you helped me... do with Pipit, now I'm helping you... do with Zelda, okay? And I'm not taking no for an answer!" She shouted, and she pushed him towards Zelda's room, and signaled for him to knock. Karane then walked back towards her room, and waved at him, greeting Pipit as she walked in. He walked up to Zelda's room, but heard something at the door... He stepped forward and listened.


	6. Interuptions

**Hey, me again. So after the support that I received after one of my last chapters, I decided I would take this to the finnish. So thanks for that! But anyhow, I would like to appoligise for the extreamly wierd academy rule I introduce in this chapter. It is very strange, but unfortunally, unless I go back and change some previous chapters, the story wouldn't work. So yeah. Let's read this shit. Then hopefully you review this shit. But don't call it shit. I'm the writer, I'm allowed :).**

**(((((((())))))))**

Link put his ear to the door of her door and listened. He could make out Zelda's voice, but who was the other person?

"Look, why are you here again? I've given you my notes, just go away!" Shouted Zelda. She sounded quite annoyed at the other person.

"I was just wondering... Do you want to go down to the waterfall? It's pretty down there..." Said the mysterious speaker.

"For the last time Groose! I don't want to go down to the waterfall, I don't want to go swimming, and I sure as hell don't want to go and help you with your work!"

Ah, it was Groose. Explains why she is sounding so annoyed. The pair of them did never get on well together.

"Look Zelda, when are you going to come to terms with reality? I'm the only real man in your life. Well, the only one not with his mind in coo-coo land. Just accept me already, because I'm the only chance you've got! And I'm your chosen hero."

'What! He has come to try and get her to go out with him! Screw that!' He was frozen in shock at this realisation, but luckily Zelda seemed to feel the same way.

"Goddesses Groose! How many times! I was waiting for Link to wake up, okay! I don't care your the chosen hero anyway - you've never helped me when you didn't feel like it! And I've heard rumors, like what Karane said earlier! Something about how you 'Bedded around 10 girls before finding Zelda'? You obviously don't care about me. And seen Link today? Has nobody told you he isn't asl-"

She was cut off by his loud shout: "Enough of this already! Your mine!" Link heard a couple of loud stomps, and some kind of struggle, but he was still captivated in shock. He shook himself, and barged in through the door.

He saw something he never wished to see. Zelda was being pushed up against the wall, not able to cry for help because Groose had his hand over her mouth. With his head, he was kissing her neck, and with his other hand he was grabbing her leg, forcing it up, restraining her movement. Again, Link was shocked, and was again frozen in horror. Nothing he had ever seen came close to the sickness he saw before him.

Without releasing his hold on her, Groose pulled up her shirt to reveal her bra, and was just about to pull that up too before a roundhouse kick to the head stopped him.

Groose fell over, out before he hit the ground, and Zelda too collapsed to the floor, her legs buckling. She was quickly pulled up again, into a bear hug from Link, who stroked her hair, telling her she was, "All right now".

It was then that the tears started.

She was crying for about 10 minutes before she could speak again. Link just held her, lowering them both onto her bed, and just lying there with her in his arms till she could speak.

"I h-hat-hate him!" She cried, before bawling out again. It took another couple of minutes before she stopped crying, and was just sniffling in his arms.

"Zelda? Are you okay now?" He asked softly, speaking into her ear. "Just nod."

She nodded, and nestled herself more into his hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, again softly, almost as if it was a wisper. She shook her head, and Link nodded in admission. 'It must be traumatic, going through that.'

"Th-thank you, L-Link." She wispered, scared that she might break into tears again if she spoke louder.

He pulled her closer, and soothed her some more. It wasn't till she was totally calm that she spoke:

"Link, is he really my chosen hero? I would have thought it would be someone more suitable than _him!_" She said 'him' as if the word was poison, and even Link could tell she loathed him now.

"I'm afraid he is... But I've done all the work." He chuckled, trying to keep her calm.

She looked up at him and frowned. "Groose has been saying that he did it all... He said he saved me, that he defeated Demise..."

Link was slightly annoyed at this, but he could never really be angry with Zelda near him. "He did now, did he? Well, whilst _I _was saving you, he was drinking ale and talking to his friends. Oh, and I did kill Demise, whilst he was flat out on the ground."

She smiled at this, and nestled her head back into Link's chest. "I thought that would be the case. Shouldn't you tell other people? I'd hate to think he was getting the credit for your work..."

"I don't care what other people think. Just you." Upon saying this, Zelda looked up into Link's eyes and said, "Link, I lo-".

"What the hell happened here?" Questioned Pipit, who had spotted Groose's unconsious body from outside.

Link's happy face glassed over, becoming one of iritation. 'That's three times she's been interupted! Goddess, is she ever going to be able to say it?'

Pipit, only having looked at the body, then spyed the two of them lying across her bed with each other. "Oh, have I walked in on something? I was just getting some cond-" he stopped himself hurridly, before saying, "condiments. Yeah. Condiments from my room. I'll just leave you two to it." And with a red face, he backed out of the room, and closed the door, leaving them alone together again.

"Well anyway Link..." Said Zelda, as she looked back towards him. She was extreamly annoyed when she did: his eyes were closed and he was snoring softly.

"Goddess damn you Link..." She cursed softly, before nudging him to wake him up. "You can't have fallen asleep that quickly! Wake up!" She started to jog him, until eventually he opened one eye in a jokingly way.

He started laughing at annoying her so much, and soon she was laughing to. They eventually both faced each other again, and Zelda moved in to kiss Link. 'Perhaps THIS will wo-'

"Ughhh. What the fuck happened?" Groaned a voice from next to the door. Again, Zelda stopped trying to express her feelings for Link.

'Seriously world? Another interuption?'

Groose had woken up, and was sitting bolt upright, staring at the two of them.

"Get out Groose, and I won't say anything of what you did." Uttered Link. Zelda too was staring at Groose, and wondered why he ran out of the door so fast: if she had looked behind her, she would have seen the look of pure rage on Link's face, scaring Groose emensely.

After Groose had gone, Zelda turned back to Link, and decided to get it over and done with. "Link, I lo-"

A loud knock, followed by a booming voice came at her door:

"Zelda? Are you in there?" Shouted her father.

Zelda rolled her eyes, and looked at Link again. "I'll be there in a minute!" She shouted back.

She then looked at Link again and whispered, "Quickly, go hide in my closet. He can't see you sleeping in my bed, he already knows your out of your coma by now."

Link quickly got up and forced himself into the closet, comically waving to Zelda. 'Isn't this a bit over the top?" She thought to her self. 'Surely my father knows about me and him on some level... couldn't I just tell him?'

She called out to her father again. "Okay, come in dad!"

Her portly father made his way in, and sat down on the chair near her. "I'm glad your awake! It's very late in the day, you know!"

Zelda looked outside, and saw the black of night. 'Wow, time does fly when I'm with him...'

"What do you want, father?" She asked bluntly, impacient to be reunited with Link.

"It's just that now that Link is awake, I feel I should emphasise certain rules that we have here. Mainly the one involving relationships..."

"What about it? We arn't in a relationship..."

"Oh, I know that! It is just... Look, the rules are clear. Girls are allowed to have relations whenever they want, but boys have to wait. Link has to wait for another year before he can-"

He was cut off by Zelda rudely interupting. "Wait father... Do you mean relationships or relations..." She asked, as she started to blush.

"Well..." Muttered Geapora, clearly unhappy to talk about this with his daughter. "Both, really. For example, Groose and some of the others are a year older than Link, therefore would be allowed to have a relationship with you..."

"Wait father, are you implying that I go out with _Groose_?" She wasn't going to say Groose had just tried to rape her, but it was hard not to when it had just happened.

"Well... He is the chosen hero sweetie. It is historically something you should do fo-" he was again cut off by Zelda loudly stamping on the floor.

"I am NOT going out with Groose! I don't care what any prophecy says! I hate him!" She shouted, making Geapora back away to the door.

"Just consider it." He said quickly, before hurridley closing the door to escape from his outraged daughter.

Link poked his head out of the closet, but unlike before when he was smiling, his face was grave.

"I should go." He said, before heading to the door.

"No! Don't just leave me here! Link, I lo-" This time, it was Link who cut her off, placing a finger to her lips and "shh"ing her.

"Don't say that. I know you mean it, but... I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing you loved me, and that I couldn't touch you.

"Let's just leave it, okay Zelda? We'll be together eventually. I promice." And with that, he pecked her on the cheek, before exiting out the door.

She ran to him, quickly grabbing his hand and pulling him into a hug just as he was about to leave. "In a years time, I'll be waiting outside your door..." She said, and then let Link pull away from her, and out the door, knowing she would have to wait another year before she could finally express her feelings.

'Stupid interuptions. Stupid Pipit. Stupid Groose. Stupid dad! It was almost like someone was trying to tell her something, force her down a path...' She eventually slipped off this trail of thought, noticing how late it was and how she should be in bed, but little did she know how right she really was.


	7. Rejected

'Goddess! What was he thinking?' Link scalded himself, as he walked out of his room. 'It wouldn't be that hard to hide it from her father! Why did he reject her?'

'You know what, I'll just go down to her, and say sorry. It shouldn't be that hard. I hope I haven't hurt her...'

He went to her room and knocked, but there was no answer. He rattled the door, intending to wake her up, but the door was locked too.

'Damn! She never locks her door at nighttime... She must have left already. I'll try and catch her at breakfast...' He looked out of the window, and saw the sun rise past it. 'Or lunch. Why did I sleep in, today of all days?'

He got down to the cafeteria, and saw Zelda standing there, with a couple of friends. He went over to talk to her, but just as he got to her, she turned her back on him. "Zelda? Can I talk to you?" He asked.

"No." She said simply, and then walked off in the direction of some tables.

"The fuck..." He muttered, before looking around. 'What had just happened? She had never been that annoyed at him before... And she had always forgiven him... Did he really hurt her that bad?'

He shook his head, and walked off to get some food. He took a simple breakfast, just getting some toast and pumpkin spread. He spotted Pipit and Karane nearby, and went to sit with them.

"Hey you two." He said, sitting down opposite them.

"Hey Link! So..." Karane whispered, like she was sharing a secret. "What did you two get up to last night?"

"Nothing." He stated, and took a bite out of his toast.

"Oh, come on Link! I've told her about me and Pipit, and I think Pipit told you..." She looked at Pipit, who was taking a very intense interest in his breakfast.

"Well, even if he hasn't told you, you can tell me! Don't be sky..." She teased him, nudging Pipit.

"Yeah, tell us anything..." Pipit sighed, annoyed at being drafted into her argument.

"Look, I can't tell you anything. Because nothing happened, okay?" He sighed, and rested his head on his arm, lying across the table.

"Link!" She shouted, annoyed ay him. "You were going to tell her! Why the hell haven't you done it yet!"

"We just kept on getting interrupted! First by you," he pointed at Pipit, who bashfully looked down, "then Groose woke up, then her father came in!"

"Hang on, wait." Said Karane. "Let's go through this... Why did Pipit interrupt you?"

"He was passing her door looking for cond- food, and he came in." Link stared at Pipit, who looked the other way.

"Pipit! Why did you do that!" Karane whined, punching his arm, and making a face at him.

"Hey, in my defence, Groose was flat out on the floor in her room! I was worried about her..." He replied, and then stayed silent, maybe because he was embarrassed, but probably because his girlfriend was glaring at him.

She then looked back to Link, quizzically. "Groose was in her room? Why?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you didn't know... He was in her room trying to get her to go out with him. Needless to say, she refused, but Groose couldn't take another rejection. He tried to... Things didn't go well, that's all I'll say. Anyway, I stopped him, which was why he now has a giant bruise on his face." He pointed over to a lone figure sitting on his own, which turned out to be Groose. The side of his face was bruised.

"Ha... At least he got what was coming to him. But what did he try to do?"

"He tried to rape Zelda, if you must know."

Karane's hand went to her mouth as she gasped, and even Pipit looked shocked. "Seriously? You should have told me." Said Pipit. "I would have sorted him out..."

"Well, I did. And he left. But right after, her father came in...". He stopped talking, and let his expression speak for itself.

"He caught you in the act?" She asked, even more surprised than before.

"Oh, no, don't worry about that. I hid in her closet while she spoke to him. But he did put down certain rules with her..." He sighed again, but was interrupted.

"Oh, do you mean the one about... Relations and all that? It's not like they can ever catch you, Link! I broke that rule myself, a couple of times. But not in that way." The last sentence was directed at Pipit, who was staring at her open mouthed.

"Well, I know that _now_. It's just that I decided to play by the rules, in a fit of... Of insanity, and now I think she's angry with me."

"She has every right to be angry with you Link! You blew her off! She loves you, Link, she was trying to say it, but then you stopped her. Go and apologise now!" She put her hands on her hips and was staring at Link.

"I've already tried, but she just walked away. I think I really messed this up..."

Her tone was softer when she spoke next. "Well, maybe she just needs some time... Wait until tonight, I expect she'll forgive you by then."

"Yeah... I suppose so..." He said doubtingly, and looked over to where she was sitting. They locked eyes for a second, but it was more than words. Zelda could tell that she had upset him, but was not going to back down.

She herself had made some decisions. She agreed with Link, and thought that they should wait a year before they started to tell each other their feelings. But she was going about it another way. She thought about her decision that she had made in the morning...

_'Okay, so maybe he's right. We should probably wait a year, even if we do love each other. After all, I wouldn't want him to be kicked out of the school... No, that is the last thing I want.'_

_'But what if he doesn't feel the same way? What if he is struggling with himself, what if he can't hold back his feelings?'_

_'There must be something I can do, anything to make him feel better... Wait. What if I tricked him somehow...'_

_'No, that's far to mean to him! But it would be effective. Okay, so what if... What if he didn't like me any more... No, there's no chance of that happening. Hang on...'_

_She could trick him another way..._

_'What if I pretended I didn't like him... Yeah! It would be mean, but it would keep him under control for the moment. So, I might just start... Ignoring him. Yeah. That isn't so hard. And if it doesn't work out, I can just speak to him. That's what I'll do...'_

She slipped out of her daydream, and noticed that Link was staring at her again. She looked away from him and started chatting to her friend.

'Ignore Link... Easier said than done. Goddess, what was I thinking!' She scalded herself, but she had to see it through now. 'He would think I was off if I just went to him now...'

'What could I do to get him to stop looking so sad? I wanted him to stop liking me so much, so it would ease him through the year, but I didn't want him to be depressed. Maybe...'

No, she couldn't do that! She shook her head again, as if she was trying to keep the thought away.

'But it would make him angry at me... Fine, I'll go do it.' And with that, she got up, and walked over to Groose's table.

"Hey Groose." She chirped happily, like she was delighted to see him. "How's it going?"

"Huh? How's what going?" Mumbled Groose, staring into his plate. He was still afraid of consequences that would come from last night, as it could get him thrown out from the academy.

"Hey, I was just wondering, do you want to see my other notes? It's just I only gave you half before..." She said, and Groose snapped his head up.

'What the hell was happening? Why is she being like this? Isn't she angry about last night...?' He didn't voice his concerns, but instead said, "Uhhhh... Yeah, sure. I didn't get much work done last night..."

She continued to talk with him, before laughing loudly at something he said that wasn't even funny, but drew Link's attention. She looked at him for a second before looking back to Groose, but she had seen what she hoped for.

Link was angry. He wasn't just angry, he was mad. And her laughing wasn't helping!

Why did he even bother... Groose was going to rape her! What is this, some kind of stupid pity?

"Link, what's wrong?" Asked Karane. Link remembered himself, and stopped glaring at Zelda. But it was too late to stop Karane seeing what he was looking at.

"Huh... What is she doing? Didn't he try and..." She trailed off, knowing it must be a touchy subject to talk about with him now.

Without saying a word, Link stormed off and barged into the door, making to slam loudly with impact.

Zelda watched him go with worry on her face. Had she gone too far? It seemed to be working, but she could see the downsides of her plan. 'What if, after the year is over, he doesn't want me any more? What if I've gone a bit to far?'

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**So yeah, that was that scene. I'm getting something of a rhythm going here, almost releasing one a day, because I've finally got a blackberry and am able to write super quick on it. So anyway, thanks for reading this chapter, and please review!**

**Side note: I think I know where I'm going with this, and there will eventually be a scene where this story deserves its M rating. I was just wondering, do you think I should have rated this T or M so far? Leave your comments wherever, PM or review. Thanks anyway!**


	8. Violence

**So it's me here again. So I've finally finished the planning for this story, and you'll love it. And hate it. Just a quick question from me: as I upload small chapters, but upload once a day, what would you rather, longer chapters over a longer time, or less chapters but once every 1-2 days? Tell me however, cause I'm a bit torn over this decision. R&R! Or don't!**

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It had been a week since Link had stormed out of the cafeteria hall. A long, agonising week. He had tried to talk to her every day, but she kept turning away, kept _ignoring_ him, all the time! Did he deserve this! Really?

He had been through that whole adventure, killed countless monsters, killed Demise, and for what! A peck on the cheek and a 'thank you'?

'No!' He thought, shaking his head and cursing himself. 'I must not think like that! That's how Groose thinks, he thinks he is entitled to an award. No, I just did it to save her, nothing else.'

But Groose... He was becoming a constant thorn in his side, from morning till night. He had been hanging out with Zelda more and more, and the two were becoming something of an item now.

'Groose, the man who slept whilst I saved her, Groose, the man who fought Demise and lost, Groose, the man that tried to **rape** her, is more important to her than I am.'

'I don't deserve this. I love her, I was going to tell her... Why didn't I just do it? Why did I wait!'

He raised a hand to his cheek whilst laying on his bed, and found he was crying. 'What am I, a boy now? Just because Groose is a year older, just because he's a _man_, she's chosen him? No, that's stupid... Or is it?'

His train of thought was derailed by a loud stumbling outside his door. 'Speak of the devil.' He thought, before going to his door and peaking out, carefully opening his door so he wouldn't make a sound.

"I had a really fun time tonight Groose. We should do this again." Said a voice, that Link soon identified to be Zelda's.

'Oh great, these two... I don't think I can take it.' He was half tempted to close his door and go finnish his work, but then again... He had never seen these two really on their own before. He stayed, peering through the crack in his door.

"Well, I told you the waterfall was a nice place to go before, but you just wouldn't listen."

'Oh, playing the sweet gentleman now, are we?' Link was half tempted to burst that bubble, and tell Zelda about all the times Groose had called her... What was it? A whore?

"Yeah, I suspose your right..." She said, almost shyly. Link had never noticed how beautiful her voice sounded. It must be because he was always captivated by her physical beauty instead...

"Well, I guess its goodnight then." He said, and leaned forward, like he was expecting a kiss.

Zelda's eyes flickered to Link's door, but not seeing that it was open, before just giving Groose a peck on the cheek and walking downstairs.

'That stupid, pompous prick!' He screamed to himself. In his mind, Groose leaning in expecting a kiss was as bad as him expecting Zelda to love him. 'I'll get him back for that...'

'But she has just kissed Groose... What did that mean? Where they really going out now? Has she just forgotten about me?' He was boiling with anger now, mostly because of her kiss.

'I heard everything her father said... He said Groose was better for her, because he was older. Does she think that too? Is she... Having relations with him?'

His mind was racing, not thinking about what he was saying. He didn't stop to rationlise, notice he was jumping to massive conclusions over a simple kiss. But that didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that he got his answers.

He rushed out of his room and bundled into Groose, who was resting on the banister. He let out a small cry of susprise before being winded, falling onto the floor with a loud bang.

"Hello Groose! Time to have a little chat, hey?" Link said happily, his words contrast to his actions. He pulled a limp Groose up to his feet, and shoved him against a wall, causing another loud noise.

"Tell me Groose, tell me about you and Zelda. What's going on there, eh?" He still spoke cheerily, like he was in a normal conversation instead of a threatening one.

"What? Link, what the hell is going on?" Groose gasped, still winded from being tackled.

"You heard me. You and Zelda. What's happening? Are you going out?" He said the last sentence like it was evil, like he was evil.

"What? No! Why did you think that?" He looked confused, as if he didn't understand. 'He knows what he was doing...'

"You kissed her. What's happening? Tell me!" He shouted the last line, making Groose cringe.

"Link, nothing's going on! Why are you doing this?"

"Your lying, Groose. Tell me!" He hit Groose in the chest, and doubled him over.

"I love her Groose! Why did you steal her from me!" He screamed, shouting at him on the floor.

"Link... I haven't... Stolen her... She talked... To me..." He gasped, and Link finally came to his senses. 'What am I doing? Beating up Groose? This is stupid...' Link left him on the ground, and went back to his room, ashamed. 'What was I thinking? Why would beating him up help? What would she think...'

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Zelda walked away and back into her room after she had kissed Groose on the cheek. She wasn't pleased with leading Groose on like she was, but it was the only way to keep Link away from her: he never approached her when she was talking with Groose. It was weird, really, like he had something against the man.

When she looked around in her room, she found Karane sitting at her desk, fiddling with a few models. "Hey Karane. What are you doing here?" She asked, not expecting the strange conversation that was going to happen.

"Zelda Zelda Zelda Zelda Zelda... What have you done..." Muttered Karane, still sitting down, not going to hug her as she usually did. "What have you done..."

"Karane? What's wrong?" She asked, genuinely confused about what was happening.

"You don't know already? Have a guess." She looked at Zelda in a sarcastic way, like it was obvious.

"Ummmmm..." She hummed, searching her brain for what was wrong. "I haven't done chores today?" Karane shook her head.

"Is it... I haven't cleaned my room?" She was really scraping the barrel, but Karane was still saying no.

"Well, I haven't done anything today! I had breakfast, I went to the Bazaar, I went out with Groose, I-" she stopped talking when Karane made a face, and immediately crossed her arms.

"Oh. So this is about Groose. I should have guessed..." She said, annoyed at her friends short-sightedness.

"No. Well, yes, but not directly. This is about _Link_." Damn! Why did she have to bring him up? The only way she was getting through the day was by keeping him out of her head. If she hadn't been so adamant, she would have caved already.

"What about him?" She asked light-heartedly, like she didn't already know. Karane saw through her guise, however.

"Zelda, your killing him! I know you, but I have no idea why your doing this! You're hurting him!" Karane lost her menacing demeanour, and whined at her instead.

"Don't talk to me about him Karane! I've only just gotten over his anger, don't make me sad over his sadness as well!"

Karane raised an eyebrow at her words, and then Zelda remembered: she hadn't told Karane about her plans for Link, but she had too now, as Karane would force it out of her.

"Look... It's just that me and Link aren't allowed to be together for another year, and I just thought... Well, I just thought that because we like each other, it would be easier if he felt less strongly about me."

Karane stared at her, like she had gone mad. "I'm sorry, repeat that to me. Tell me the part where you got drunk, because I assume that's the only way you could have come up with such a stupid plan!"

Zelda looked down, embarrassed by her actions. She hadn't told anyone about her idea, and was worried she might have made the wrong decision.

"I don't see why it's that bad..." She said half-heartedly, like she didn't believe her own words.

"Zelda! Why would he be more agonised that he is now? What, waiting a year for you is somehow worse than believing that your best friend has suddenly betrayed you for another guy... For a smart girl, you can be creatively dumb."

Zelda looked down, embarrassed at having her plan fall to pieces in front of her. 'Of course I made the wrong decision! Why did I think this would be a better idea?' "I suppose your right." She muttered, under her breath, looking down at the floor.

"I _am_ right, Zelda. Your going to go tell him how right I am now. Right now." She pointed to the door, indicating that she should go.

"Bu-but what do I say?" She slumped down on her bed, and closed her eyes. "What am I suppost to say now? I've dug this hole, and I don't want to just admit this to him, but if I don't then he'll hate me more for abandoning him before, but if I tell him then I'm crazy, and if I don't talk to him then I'll never do so again, and if I keep going out with Groose then I'll be an outcast, and if i-"

She carried on talking for ages, before Karane got up and sat next to her, holding her by the shoulder and letting her cry it out. They stayed there for a couple of minutes, before she stopped crying. It reminded her of the time when Link held her, but she didn't feel half as comfortable.

"Zelda..." She said, whispering to her. "He loves you, Zelda. He loves you more than Pipit loves me, more than Groose loves you, more than your own father loves you. He will forgive you. I promise you, whatever you've done, it won't matter to him."

She looked at Karane with puppy-face eyes. "He told you that?" She whimpered.

"Yeah. He told me a lot of things. Like how he would do anything for you, how he would die for you. Zelda, he did die for you. Trust me, and go see him." With the knowledge that Link loved her, Zelda walked outside her room with a newfound courage, like she could face anything. But she was still nervous about Link.

However, when she made it to his room, she found a surprising sight. Groose was flat on the floor in front of the door, and was groaning loudly. "Groose, what happened here?" She questioned, getting on her knees and touching Groose's arm.

"Yeah, what did happen, Groose?" Without her noticing, Link's door had opened, and he was standing in the doorway. 'This wasn't going to happen!' Zelda screamed at herself.

Link was also chastising himself for his actions. 'Why did she have to see this! I shouldn't have done this...'

Groose turned over, and eyed Link. He wanted to shame him, but didn't want to feel his anger again. "I tripped." He said, before getting up and going to his room.

"What was that about? He obviously didn't trip..." she asked, confused.

"I don't know…" he lied, but looked at her again. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh…" she didn't know if she could speak to him now. He looked so intimidating like this, and she couldn't get her words out.

"I… Well… No. Sorry." She squeaked, and ran away, ready for a respite from Karane.


	9. Falling From the Sky With Death

**So I don't know if I've already said this, says having merged the past week, but here's my basic schedule: Expect at least one chapter over the weekend, and two in the weekdays. I have free time every weekend, so I can do one in two days, but it will take two-three days when I've got distractions. But this weekend is different, because I have tests that need to be done, so don't expect another till, at best, late Monday. Anyhow, on with stuff that is important. Like writing stories instead of revising for GCSE's.**

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Groose frantically rummaged through his room. He had searched everywhere for it... Where could it be? Did he misplace it or something?

How could he have misplaced his damn sword!

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Link rode through the night on his loftwing, with the master sword on his back. He finally felt like a proper hero, not just a sidekick. He had always been the hero, but this solidified it more.

He jumped down from his loftwing and took out his sailcloth, slowly drifting to the land below him.

He landed, and made his way to the soon to be resting place of Fi.

He got to the door when Fi herself appeared in front of him. He was surprised, as he was new to Fi being his companion.

"We are at my resting place. Leave me in the middle of the room, and I shall do the rest." She said, but she seemed to be holding something back. She stood there, silent, in front of him, blocking his way to the door.

"Fi? Don't I need to get in there? Is there anything else you wanted to say?"

She turned away from him, before saying, "I am enlightened by your kindness in this situation. I am confident in saying that you would be a better master."

Link was touched that she had taken the time to say this, but there was one thing he didn't understand.

"Don't you normally speak in figures and percentages? Have you changed?" He asked,

"I did. You had. 100% chance to be a better master. By Groose was chosen in some fit of madness, or rather, illogical logic."

He was stumped. Fi's use of words was far beyond his own normal capacity. "Huh?" He said, stupidly.

"Being created by the goddess, I have particular insight into who my master was and why. You yourself were considered, and had the highest probability of becoming my master. Instead, Groose was chosen, and I have finally deduced the reason why.

"Groose and Zelda are allowed to have a relationship in your culture. If it was you, she would have to wait a year. And so, in a strange way, Groose would be a better candidate for her, as he could have an official relationship with her.

"This is obviously the wrong choice. Zelda and Groose have only a 19% chance to be mates, whilst you and Zelda had a 76% chance. After you have completed your task, the spirit maiden will most likely be looking for you."

Link was lost for words. He couldn't think why Groose would be chosen because of such a bad reason.

"So... Groose being the hero was only because of some warped judgement? It had nothing to do with his feelings?" He asked.

"No. Groose didn't care for her, and you do. The goddess apologises for this, and asks for your forgiveness. She will stop trying to interfere."

"Huh? What do you mean, 'interfere'? What did she do?" He questioned. Maybe this was why they had grown this far apart. Maybe it wasn't his fault!

"She influenced things she had no right to, in order to try and bring her couple together. She influenced the one you call Pipit, making him intrude; she influenced her father, making him knock on her door. She had ideals, and decided to drop them when she realised the love you felt for each other. She apologises."

Link felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his back. "We can be together, without anything going wrong..." His eyes glassed over and his mind raced, picturing the two of them together.

He was quickly brought back to earth by Fi, who spoke again.

"Sadly, she is worried that her actions might have unforeseen effects. There is now a 49% chance Zelda has feelings of some sort towards my master."

"Oh... Well, thanks for the information. You've been a good friend, Fi." He sighed, knowing he was never going to see her again after this talk.

"You yourself have aided my masters course of action. This is why I ask you to oblige me in one, last thing."

"Sure Fi. What is it?"

"Goodbye, master." And without another word, she sunk into the sword again. Link smiled, knowing Fi now truly felt like he was more worthy than Groose. He pulled out the sword, and then went into the temple, closing the door behind him.

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Link returned home on his loftwing in good spirits. True, he had just laid to rest an important friend and ally, but the knowledge he had gained dismissed any other issues.

'The Goddess was stopping me, and now she is not. There's nothing standing between me and Zelda!' He thought to himself happily, bolting across the paths to get to the academy and, ultimately, her room.

He bounded up the stairs till he reached it. He was about to just burst in, but he hesitated. 'What if she was getting dressed or something?' He thought. He had never just waltzed into her room before, and she would probably think him a bit of a fool if he started now, with a giant smile on his face.

He straightened himself out, his shirt having been a little crumpled on the flight there. As he was making sure he was presentable (apart from his hair, that he knew Zelda loved in its untidy state), he heard voices inside the room. He stepped closer, and made out two voices.

"What do you think? I picked this one myself." Asked one. He could faintly make it out to be Zelda, her happy voice bringing joy to his heart. He was half tempted to burst in at the sound of her, but restrained himself.

"It looks... Okay, I guess. Why, what's it for?" He recognised Karane's voice, and backed away from the door slightly.

'Now...' He thought to himself, 'if I went in there I would probably stop their conversation. Yeah, that's the reason I'm backing away... Nothing else...'

Despite having faced terrible creatures, fearsome attackers, and a drunken Pipit, there was nothing that could make him or any other man walk into a room where two girls were showing clothes to each other. Before you knew it, you would be asked if you thought an outfit was the right colour. Next, you would be asked if it was pretty. It was a downward slope from there on, which no man had supposedly lived through, but he had heard rumours...

Of choosing the right top with the right skirt. Of picking your favourite design.

Of... He couldn't say it...

Of _catwalking_.

Link cringed mentally, and decided to give tonight a miss. No matter how much he loved her, he would never, _ever _stoop that low. He turned around, and planned to get an early night, hopefully waking up in the morning and surprising her.

The two girls continued their conversation, however. Zelda had a dress pressed up against her body, and Karane was lying chest-down on the bed with her chin propped up with her hand.

"Oh, nothing really... But seriously, what do you think? I was looking for a better response than just 'good'." She moaned, and pressed the dress to herself more tightly.

"Yeah, it's pretty. But if your wearing it that tight, does it really matter? Any boy that sees you isn't going to be interested in the dress." She said, flatly, fiddling with her hair.

"Karane! Don't say that!" But despite her annoyed tone, she was pleased with herself: she had bought that dress knowing it was tight on her, hoping to get some reasonable friends whilst Link and her were separated. After all, she had to attract them somehow, right?

"So how are you and pig doing?" Karane asked. She had taken to calling Groose 'pig' in an attempt to get Zelda to come to her senses and ignore him. It hadn't worked.

"Oh, we are doing fine." And they were. Her and Groose were becoming fast friends, much in the way she and Link had when they first met, spending more and more time with each other until they realised they were spending the whole day in each others company. It was weird.

"You know, I don't see why you don't just talk to Fledge or someone else. Anyone would be nicer than Groose... Can't you remember what he tried to do to you?" She questioned, making Zelda grimace.

"Don't remind me of that!" She half-shouted, angry at her for bringing it up yet again. Her attempted rape had been a topic of conversation that had occurred many times, ever since Link told her about it. Even though she had forgiven Groose for it, the memories still hurt.

"And who saved you from said incident?" She asked again.

Zelda sighed. She had been repeating this constantly. "Link did. As if I had forgotten it since you told me 5 minutes ago."

"I just don't understand why you think Link isn't worth your time. Because that's what Link feels."

Karane's words still cut deep, but she was prepared for it. "I do understand how Link feels Karane. I feel the same way. It's just I don't want to get him kicked out of the academy! I'm not doing this for myself, it's for him. So be quiet and comment on this skirt." She held another item of clothing to her, for Karane's approval.

"Too red. It doesn't suit you. It's a shame your going to throw your relationship away. Have you considered that Link might not have feelings for you after this is over? What if he doesn't want you back?"

She hadn't thought about that. What if she was rejected by Link, what if they didn't become the ideal couple?

"Then I'll have Groose to fall back on." She stated, to annoy Karane. She cringed, her words having the desired effect, and stood up from the bed.

"If it's all the same to you, I'm tired, and I don't want to fall asleep in the bedroom of a crazy lady." She yawned, and walked over to the door. Even though she disagreed with Zelda, they were still friends, and they shared a brief hug before she walked out of the room.

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Link had just had the perfect idea. The minute he woke up, he got dressed and walked out the academy.

'So let's see... Faron woods is this way. If I get there early enough, I'll be able to grab some beautiful flowers and surprise Zelda at breakfast with them. Or maybe at lunch.' No matter how urgent his task was, Link always found himself waking up at lunchtime, to the dismay of a few of his close friends.

He jumped off the platform at the east of the island with ease, and revelled in the joy of freefalling before calling for his loftwing. He was quickly snatched up, and carried high above the clouds.

He headed for the space in the clouds, and jumped off when he was above it, without a thought given at all. He had done this hundreds of times, and it had become casual for him now.

It was when he was below the cloud layer and heading for the ground that he felt a terrible feeling.

He reached around to his pouch, and realised it wasn't there. Quickly fumbling around his belt, spinning in mid air, Link realised that he had forgotten his sailcloth.

Despite his panic, he tried to manoeuvre himself to a tree, so its soft leaves could break his fall.

'Where the hell is it! Where the hell is my sailcloth!' He thought to himself, in panic. But, in truth, he knew exactly where it was: on his table, casually tossed there after he had returned the master sword. Damn his forgetfulness!

Just before he landed, a thought flickered through his head. 'Twice I'll die now, both for Zelda.'

He hit the ground, and just before he slid into unconsciousness, he finally thought: "Still worth it."

And, with the faint sound of a "Kwee", and the leaves rustling all around him, he succumbed to his injuries, and fell into the sweet relief of death.

However, a distressed Kikwi ran up to him, and dragged his body towards his species' elder.

(((((((())))))))

Zelda woke up crying again, as she had done for the past week.

After all she had gone through, it seemed that evil still had something to throw at her.

It had been a week since Link had disappeared. She hadn't got over her sudden loss, but still told everyone she didn't believe Link was really gone.

'Perhaps he has just gone on another quest. Or is fighting a new evil. Or is just talking to the mogmas. Or doing something. He just hasn't returned yet, that's all.' She had been feeding the same lies to herself for the past week, but it had become a ritual, as if she just wouldn't believe he was dead.

She had heard rumours about what had happened. There was talk of sightings of him flying off to Faron woods early in the morning, on the day of his disappearance. She believed these people, but was still horrified about what she had found yesterday.

She had ventured into Link's room for a clue about why he had descended to Faron woods. But she had also found a new source of tears.

Laid in the corner of his desk, there was his sailcloth.

Zelda was sure he had no other way of getting to the land below without using his sailcloth. Which meant that, if people were to be believed, he was dead.

She remembered crying herself to sleep that night, lying on Link's bed. Karane had heard her, and had comforted her, but she had eventually left too.

Karane had also stopped complaining about the time she was spending with Groose. Zelda thought that Karane accepted she needed someone in her life to ease her pain, to make the suffering and worry pass with more ease.

Zelda touched her head back down to Link's pillow, and cracked up in tears once again. As she lay there, she thought of all the pain she had caused him before he had gone. It was unfair; that the only happiness he could have had was taken away because of stupid rules. She closed her eyes, and fell back into a nightmare. At least it was better than the disaster of the world she was in right now.

(((((((())))))))

**So, pretty big things happen here. I am so happy about how this has gone that I'm dancing, so please excuse any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, as it is hard to type whilst doing the waltz. Anyway, I have also allowed anonymous reviews, so be sure to review if you haven't done so already. Chow.**


	10. Waking Up, Again

Imagine.

Imagine a floating island, with many happy residents on it, going about their day-to-day lives.

Imagine the light of the sun beaming down onto each of the residents, illuminating the whole island for all to see.

Imagine a small child running round the edge, dangerously close to falling over. He wobbled, and is about to fall before a hand catches him.

Imagine the owner of the hand has bright blond hair, a carefree face, and beautiful eyes.

Imagine she pulls the little child away from the edge, and slaps his wrist, scalding him. She gives him a hug before he runs off to play with the other children.

Imagine she goes back to the edge. A sweet summer breeze rolls through, blowing her clothing and hair away from her face. She looks out onto a dense cloud layer that is slowly twisting and turning beneath her.

Imagine a man coming up behind her, playfully grasping her wrists and holding her. She leans back onto him and takes a deep breath, in total tranquillity.

Now imagine a tiny dot appearing far in the horizon. It is rising fast, but is so small it is hard to make out what it is.

Imagine a magnificent crimson bird awakening from a deep slumber, disturbing the nest of discarded leaves around itself. It takes off into the air, and flies swiftly towards the distant dot.

Imagine the woman with blonde hair has turned around, locked in an embrace with the man. They are kissing passionately, but then stop. They rest against each other and walk back the way they came, arm in arm.

Imagine the huge bird reaches the small dot in the horizon, and they whiz around, not having a care in the world. They quickly change course, heading directly for the floating island.

Imagine the blonde woman quickly remembers she left something near the edge, a drawing, and goes back to collect it. As she nears the edge, a strong gust of wind momentarily topples her, tipping her over the edge.

Imagine the small dot become bigger rapidly, until a rider can be made out, and he is now heading for the blonde woman falling out of the sky. He has something in his teeth.

Imagine the woman is caught by the rider, and is stunned. She looks up and sees his face, where he tells a joke.

Imagine, after landing on the island, the rider speaks again.

"I guess I've got some explaining to do."

(((((((())))))))

"Kwee?"

"Kweekwee!"

"Kweeeeee!"

Link woke up to the sound of annoying Kwikis surrounding him. He stirred, and all of a sudden, there was silence. When he opened his eyes, he saw 3 different bushes surrounding him, all of them slightly quivering. 'Not this again... I thought we were past this!' He thought to himself. He shook one of the bushes, but they still didn't turn over.

"I can see you, you know. It's not like your good at this..." Even thought he meant it, he said the last part under his breath: even thought they were annoying with their 'Kwee' exclamations every other second, they had been good friends to him, and he didn't want to hurt their feelings.

"Kwee! I see your are awake!" Said a loud and booming voice. Link turned to see the origin of the voice, though he already knew who it was. No other being he knew could say 'Kwee' with such an authorities tone.

"Do you want to know about what has happened since your recent awakening?" Boomed the elder, who stood tall over Link.

"Not really. I just want to go home. Not that I am not thankful!" He said hurriedly, noticing how mean he could sound when he was just annoyed.

"Oh... Very well! Your equipment and sorts is by the tree. But I feel like I must impart some important knowledge to you!" Link got up and walked over to a tree where they had put his equipment. For some reason, he really ached, and every movement was a struggle. He put it down to sleeping pains.

"It is about the time you have spent here, with us! It is of the utmost importance!" He shouted. Link picked up his bag and pouch, and saw that they were covered in dust. What had they done, rolled around in the mud with them? Used them to sweep the forest? He didn't really care, and put his stuff back on his belt.

He was making for the door when the elder said: "Link, you have been with us for 10 months, sleeping!"

This stopped him dead in his tracks. '10 months? How is that even possible? What did I do?' Then he remembered: the jumping from his loftwing, the long fall on the way down, the bone-crunching smash onto the hard, dirt floor. He swilled on his heels to look at the elder again. "How am I still alive?" He asked, bluntly.

"We gave you the kiss of life! It is quite simple! All you have to do is-" Link shook his head, and asked another question.

"10 months? I've been asleep for 10 months!" He exclaimed, and realised something. "Has anyone come looking for me?"

"No-one has found you, no. Now if you just wait here a moment..." He wasn't able to finish his sentence due to the fact that Link had rushed out, to make his way to the nearest bird-statue.

(((((((())))))))

'Why did this happen! Why!' He thought to himself, as he rushed over the ground. Despite his aching muscles, he sprinted onwards, till he reached the bird statue. But how was he going to get up? He eyed the tree nearest to him, and started to climb it without a moments hesitation. Soon, he had reached the middle, and began plucking leaves.

When he had enough, he shimmied back down to the bottom, and started to tie the leaves together with pieces of bendy twig that he found scattered around. Eventually, through an hour's hard work, he ended up with a cloth that resembled his sailcloth. He picked it up, and after weaving it through the air a few times for good measure, walked back to the bird statue. On his way, an idea came to him - he bent down, picked up a flower, and held it between his teeth.

(((((((())))))))

Link soared into the air with his new sailcloth. It was starting to deteriorate rapidly, but he only needed to use it once. As he rose above the cloud layer, he let out a high-pitched whistle, and grasped onto the makeshift sailcloth tighter; if this failed, he might have to spend another 10 months unconscious, or maybe even dead.

He looked up worriedly, and saw a massive hole had appeared in the leaves. He cursed himself for shoddy handwork before letting go of the twigs he was holding onto, falling back to the cloud layer. Before he could get very far, he bashed into a great crimson bird, which carried him high above the skies.

'Old friend...' He thought, letting himself enjoy the situation he was in: reunited with a friend, who hadn't seen him for the past 10 months...

Speaking of old friends... Link changed course, and headed straight towards the land he saw before him. As he got closer, he made out a figure topped with blonde, standing dangerously close to the edge. 'Could I be so lucky?'

He then saw the figure be caught off balance, and topple over the edge. 'Yup!'

He dashed towards the falling figure on his loftwing, and caught her before she had the time to call her own.

He pulled out the rose from between his teeth, and held it in front of her. "For you."

(((((((())))))))

It had become a tradition, coming out here. Zelda stood by the edge and let the wind whip through her clothes, blowing her from side to side. She liked this feeling, and had grown used to it.

She noticed movement by her side, however. A small boy was walking on the edge of the island, and he wasn't old enough to have his own loftwing yet. That made what he was doing positively life-threatening.

She walked over to him and pulled him onto solid ground. "Don't so that! How many times do I have to tell you, your not allowed to run by the edge!" She scaled him, but gave him a quick huge before he became sad. She didn't want a bad reputation.

"Go play with the others." She said, before going back to resume her vigil by the edge. The boy ran away, muttering something about hippos before he got out of earshot.

She was then interrupted by her husband coming up behind her and embracing her. She leaned back, comfort in their easy embrace. She turned around and kissed him. It was as easy as breathing now...

She drew her hands out of her pockets, but she didn't care that something fell out. It was such a beautiful moment. She looked out at the sky for one last time. 'He isn't coming today...' She thought, before walking back with her husband.

She remembered that something fell out of her pocket - a drawing that she had a particular affinity for. She ran back to get it, but was pushed off by a gust of wind. She liked the feeling of falling, and knew she always had her loftwing to catch her. She revelled in the moment.

Before she could think, she was on board another loftwing, heading upwards. She didn't call her loftwing - 'What's happening?' She thought, a bit stunned from the fall.

"For you." Said a voice behind her. A red rose appeared in front of her. She blinked, in an uncomprehending way. How had he been able to move so fast, from being on the island with him to him catching her?

She looked sown and saw the red of a crimson loftwing. Could it be?

She looked around and saw long, very shaggy blonde hair, stubble around a familiar chin, both framing beautiful eyes and a forgotten face. She stared in astonishment at his face for a long time as they slowly flew over skyloft.

"You know, one time I won't be able to catch you. You should be more careful." He said, smugly. He looked down, and landed his loftwing behind a building.

"I guess I've got some explaining to do." He said. He got off the loftwing and pulled her down with him.

Then she finally did something. She punched him, as hard as she could, on the arm. "Where the hell have you been!" She shouted.

"Ow! What was that for!" He protested, and clutched his arm. Zelda smirked at his sudden indignation, and suddenly they were both laughing together, in each other's arms.

"So now the pleasantries have been take care of... Where have you been?" Asked Zelda, trying to get the full phrase out without laughing, without much success.

Links face suddenly turned serious, like he had suddenly remembered something important.

"Yeah... Is it true I've been away for 10 months?" He asked, closing his eyes and breathing softly.

"Didn't you know? What have you been doing? It must have been better than staying up here..." She sounded hurt, and this registered with Link.

He squeezed her shoulders, to comfort her. "Why Link? Why did you have to go?" The hint of a tear appeared at her eye. He brushed the tear away, and hugged her again.

"Zelda, its been less than a day for me. I've been asleep." He said, softly.

She hit him again.

"Ow! What was that one for!" He whined, but Zelda didn't crack a smile again.

"That's for sleeping in. You've never than 10 months to get up before. But what happened? Did a curse get placed on you or something?"

He turned red. This particular memory was embarrassing, and he was actually planning to make something up, but an angry Zelda always got the truth from him.

"I jumped off my loftwing to go to Faron woods to get some flowers, but forgot my sailcloth. I got very badly injured by the fall, but the Kwekis found me and... Helped me." He wasn't about to admit he received mouth to mouth from a Kwekis.

"Oh..." She seemed momentarily disrupted, like she was going to tell him off but stopped when she heard his story. "Why didn't they say they had you..." She sounded angry now.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked, puzzled.

"Me and a couple of others went down to the surface to look for you... But when we talked to the elder, he just tried to hide in front of us and ignored us. When we eventually got him to talk, he just wanted us to collect him berries to help his memory... If I had known he actually knew something, I would have helped him..."

Link was touched that Zelda had come to look for him. She hugged him again, and sighed.

Link then remembered what he was going to do, before he was otherwise incapacitated. He took Zelda's face in his hands and shushed her. "There's one other thing I need to say..." He said, whispering into her ear.

She squirmed beneath his gaze. 'What was wrong? This isn't how I imagined it...'

"Link there's something I need to tell you too. It's very important..." She pulled away from him and looked the other way, with her eyes now closed. 'What was going on? Did I do something? Was it wrong of me to just assume that she would want me back after 10 months?' He hadn't considered that. It had been less than a day in his mind, but everyone else had spent so long away from him... Had she forgotten about him?

"Link, you took such a long time getting here, and I thought you were dead..." She couldn't say the rest of the sentence, like it was stuck in her mouth.

"I'm... I'm married now, Link."

Those simple words crushed Link. 'Married? How? To who?' He was so stunned his face drained of emotion, his arms slid down to his sides, his shoulders slumped. He shut down entirely, and tried to process this new information.

"... Who?" He asked, finally. Zelda still hadn't looked at him, and had gone over to the side of the world again.

He walked over and touched her arm. "Who?" He asked again, less shakily.

She meekly whispered: "Groose."

She felt his arm go back to his body, as he processed this. She then heard a pattering behind her, and then nothing. She turned around, but just caught a glimpse of him diving over the edge once again.

'I guess its to late to say sorry... Damn...'

(((((((()))))))))

'What was she thinking?' Link thought, as he flew his loftwing under skyloft once again. 'I could understand that she needed someone, I can understand how she would marry someone... But Groose?'

As far as Link knew, Zelda and Groose had never got along. Not since they were children, not before she was blown away, not after she had been saved... When did these feelings start?

He remembered back to that peck on the cheek Zelda had given Groose. It seemed as if that were yesterday... But it wasn't Link had to keep on reminding himself of that fact.

'Fine. If she is now with him, fine. I won't get in the way.' He thought. Away from Zelda, away from his love, he could think clearly. He just didn't know how to say it to Zelda.


	11. Hey Again!

Link had been back at skyloft for a day now, and was happily greeting every face he hadn't seen in a while. He shook hands with Horwell, he shared some stories with knights in the Lumpy Pumpkin, and was steadily going through the cafateria's food when he ran into Karane and Pipit.

"Link!" Karane shouted, from the doorway. She ran across the floor to where he was sitting, and hugged him. A little taken aback by this gesture, Link hugged her back, before seeing Pipit over her shoulder.

He wanted to go over and say hi, but it seemed Karane had other plans. She sat him down, sat next to him, and punched him on the arm.

"Ow! What's with the punches?" He rubbed his arm again, remembering Zelda had hit him in the exact same place already.

_Zelda..._

'Damn! Don't think about her!' He thought to himself, and shook his head slightly. He had been trying to keep off the topic of Zelda for the whole day, and even thinking about her annoyed him a little. Unfortunally, it seemed Karane wanted to torture him a little first.

"You were gone to long, you deserved it. Anyway, we heard you were back, and we couldn't believe it! Why were you gone? What's been happening on the surface? Have you talked to-"

Link cut her off before she could get onto the topic of Zelda. "Yeah, I seem to be back. And I was asleep, after falling... Against some monsters, in battle on the surface." Pipit sat oppoiste them both with an uncerimonious "Hi."

Karane's lips were pouted. "We found your sailcloth in your room. What really happened?"

He sighed. It was bad enough taking flak from Zelda, but from Karane it was just embarrising.

_Zelda._

"Fine. I dived off my loftwing and died again, but a couple of Kwekis saved me. Happy?" He said, a bit irritated.

"Oh... Well, that was stupid of you. Have you seen what Zel-"

"So what have you two been up to?" He asked, perhaps a little bit to loud. He was not going to break down over _her,_ and especially not in front of Karane.

Pipit shrugged. "Mostly nothing, really. Just the usual rubbish... Although there is ONE thing..." He smiled sideways at Karane, then continued. "Guess what's happened to Karane?" He asked, clearly happy about the news. A smile also appeared on Karane's face, and she turned to face him with her arms crossed.

"Ummm..." Link really didn't know what could happen between the couple that already hadn't happened. From a couple of Pipit's stories, they had 'done' everything... "Your... Really a lion?" He asked, clearly oblivious to the truth.

"Oh, at least try! Look at me! Do I look different?" Complained Karane. She stood up amd faced him, with both Link and Pipit staring at her.

'Well... Her chest has gotten bigger, but I'll be damned if I say that in front of Pipit... She does look slightly fatter, but again, I would be murdered. Unless...' He took a shot in the dark: "Are you pregnant?" He winced, in case he had made a fatal mistake.

Instead of shouting at him, Karane happily sat down again. "I'm glad you got it so fast. It took Pipit nearly a week..." She looked over lovingly at Pipit, who smiled back.

"Wait, are you serious? Your actually pregnant?" Link couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even though he knew they were at it, he didn't expect THIS.

"Yeah-huh. It's been confirmed by that old lady. You know, the one with the wierd eyes?" She went on and on about baby planning and the likes, powder this and house that, till eventually both Link and Pipit had zoned out, dead to the world until she stopped talking.

"I thought a deku plant would be a good pet. It could eat his food before anything malnutricious slept him." Stated a clearly out of it Pipit, who earned a slap to the face.

"Pipit! Your suppost to care about this stuff! Your his father, for Goddess's sake! Both of you, wake up!" She nudged Link, who had rested his head on his hands and stayed there for a bit to long. A light snore came from him; that was, until he was elbowed.

"Yeah yeah... I'm listening..." He said, sleepily. He hadn't had a proper sleep in... 10 months and a day? The coma wasn't REALLY sleeping now, was it? Safe in this knowledge, he difted off to the sounds of Karane talking and Pipit half-heartedly contributing.

"Baby... Important to... Mobile buggy... Father figure... Swings and roundabouts... Houses for sale... Groose's house... Zelda... Babymaking..."

'Wait, what?'

He sat bolt upright, making both his friends jump. "Huh?" He said grogilly.

"Oh... Haven't you spoken to her yet? She hasn't told you about..." She trailed off, not wanting to be the one to break the news to Link.

"Yes, she has told me. What did you say just now?" He asked, trying to repress hurtful memories. Maybe, if he didn't think about her ever again, there wouldn't be a problem...

"Well, after the cerimony, they bought a little house together. They didn't want to be treated like little kids, having to visit each other when they wanted to be together. But there MAY be something wrong..." She trailed off again, as if reluctant to tell Link.

"What's wrong?" He tried to mimic casual concern, but he knew they both saw through his disguise. However, she still carried on.

"Well, you hear creaking coming from there every night, if you know what I mean..." Link somehow managed to stop himself flying into a fit of rage, but couldn't hide the fact he died a little inside.

"But there is something wrong. Pipit never sees Groose at the 'protection' store, but Zelda still isn't pregnant. We think there is something wrong with one of them... Probably Groose." She said hurredly, seeing the look on Link's face when she saw how worried he was for Zelda.

"Oh... That's strange... Do you know why?" He asked, wanting to know more.

"Why yes, I know everything about Groose's sexual nature." She looked sarcastically at Link, who nodded.

"Huh?" Said a surprised Pipit, whose eyes widened in confusion.

"Oh, come on Pip! We are having a baby! Can you really not tell when I'm being sarcastic?" She scalded, and Link left them arguing whilst going into his own little world again.

'Zelda can't get pregnant? That's strange... She's always been healthy. Must be something with Groose. Maybe I should talk to her... I can't be the only one who is hurting...' He made a mental decision to go see her, the moment he was able to. Speaking of which...

"Hey, do you know where Zelda lives?" He asked, interupting their conversation.

"Oh... It's a new house built for just her by her father. It's red, near the waterfall." She told him, eyeing him suspisciously.

"Might go over there and say hi. Haven't seen Groose either..." And with that, leaving an extremly suspisious and confused Pipit and Karane behind him, he went to the happy couple's house.

(((((((())))))))

Their home was at the end of a long, twisting path, which went around a few large rocks. The house was on a rocky outcrop overlooking the waterfall, and in all honesty it looked beautiful. He went up to the door and used the knocker, the sound echoing off the rocks. He wondered how close Karane had had to be to hear the creaking of the bed - considering it's out-of-place nature, he guessed she snuck up on them.

'What am I even planning to say? Why am I even here?' He asked himself, but he already knew the answers. He was there to talk to Zelda.

Because he had to.

The door opened and a figure stood in the doorway. "Hi." Link said.

"Dude! Where the hell have you been!" Shouted the figure.

'Damn, it's Groose. Just play along, for all he knows your visiting everyone.' He thought to himself.

"Oh, just asleep. You know how I am, never can wake up. Is Zelda in?"

Groose's smile froze. Link guessed he was considering what he thought about their recent marrige, but in truth he really didn't care about Groose's opinions on the matter.

"Uhhh... No, she's not in right now. Is there anything you wanted to say to her?" He asked.

'How about "Why did you choose him"? How about "Is your brain addled?" How about "Did you just forget about me?"'

"No, not really. I just wanted to speak to her, that's all..." He said plainly.

"Oh..." He paused for a bit, before saying, "Do you want to come in? She's only down at the Bazaar, and she only goes down there to buy basic essentials."

'Does she now? She used to go down there once a week, just looking for dresses... What's changed here Groose?'

"Sure, I'd love to." Groose stepped to one side and let Link walk inside. He was unimpressed with the small number of decorations or furnishings or anything around the house. Apart from a couple of things, such as a table and chair, there wasn't much in the house at all.

"Please, have a seat. I'll get some coffee." Groose disappeared into a doorway, and left Link to have a look around the house.

All in all, the house was generally well built, but the fact that Link was able to see the brick walls displeased him. 'What's happened here... No furnishings, and no wallpaper, probably no luxuries...' He thought to himself, as he sat down on the uncomfortable chair.

Groose came in with two cups of coffee, placing them on the table in front of him, then sitting opposite him. Link felt they had to make conversation, so he stated the obvious: "Pretty bare house you have here..." He left an implyed question hanging at the end: why was the house so decrepit?

"Ah, well, when we got married I spent most of my money on the wedding, and Zelda spent most of hers on this house, along with her father's money. It didn't leave us with much left, in the end. But I'm working there..." He trailed off, like there was something he was holding back, but Link didn't pry.

"So what is your job, then? I assume you have become a knight, so I guess you are doing work for the academy?" He asked, trying to get him talking.

"Ah... About that. You see, even though I went to the surface and saved Zelda," 'I saved Zelda, you prick", "It still doesn't make me a knight. And, when the final testing came, I didn't make the cut... So now, in between doing odd jobs and the like, I fix old bits of forgotten machinery. For instance, we get water from the waterfall, and it's heated using a stove underneath us..."

"So what you're really trying to say is, you don't have a proper job?" He asked, with a slight menacing tone. He hadn't touched his tea, and it was left on the small table in front of him, slowly turning cold.

"Well..." He squirmed under Link's gaze. "I don't have a job parsay... I am making some money off my inventions. It's just I'm still working everything out, you know?" He tried to sound athorative, but it didn't work on Link.

"Groose... Look at this house. Look at these seats. Look at this mug, for Goddess' sake! You can't even afford a mug that hasn't been scratched all over!" He knocked over the mug, which spilled over the floor, and stood up, looming over Groose. " Your suppost to be supplying for a family, for a wife and future child, not just making silly inventions that bring in 'just enough'! Get a job Groose..." He brought out all his fustration on Groose, and by the time he was done, Groose looked scared.

"I'm not telling you to do it for me or you Groose. Do it for her. She deserves better than this..." He waved his hand in the direction of the wall, which had a crack mark on it.

"Go now, Groose. I hope I don't have to tell you again..." He sat down, and Groose stood up, walking towards the doorway, perhaps slightly quicker than a man should be inside his own home. He opened the door and brushed past someone, who mildly complained before entering the house.

Zelda closed the door behind her, and walked up to the table, putting down a depressingly small shopping bag. She looked around and saw Link sitting on the chair.

"Oh... Hey."

(((((((())))))))

**So this is going to be in two parts, so don't worry yourself about me just leaving out the next part and starting the next chapter with 'He woke up.' Also, I'm wrapping this up within the next 5-6 chapters, (but I'm not exactly predictable, even to myself), and I wondered what you readers would like me to do next. Please get back to me! Even you anon people. That's right, I'm talking to you. You with the hair and the nose, who is reading this thinking: 'These are my thoughts, but I don't want to review.' That's right, if you don't review I'll... Write angry letters to random people, hoping somehow I find you. And when I do... I'll send you strongly worded letters, good sir, yes indeed!**

**You have been warned!**


	12. Wish It Was A Dream

"Oh... Hey." Zelda said, slightly nervous already. She was annoyed that he would have to see her like this, with no money. She tried not to let anyone in, but Groose never did really understand why.

"Hey Zel. Sorry for walking out on you before. I was just a bit... Shocked, that was all." He said, standing up and walking over to her.

'Of course he would be shocked, he only just found out...'

"Link, listen for a while, okay? Don't interrupt me, just listen. Okay?" She asked him, all of a sudden. He closed his mouth tightly and nodded, making a silly face. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Link, I'm trying to be serious! Just please..." She whined, and Link put on a more serious face, and leaned against the wall.

"I know how this must look. Me with no new clothes, the house looking like a tip, two chairs and a table for a living room. There's a reason for it though..."

"Yeah, Groose told me. He paid for the wedding, you paid for this house."

"Link! What did I say!" She whined, and Link once again zipped his mouth shut and nodded again.

"He was basically right. It's just that we didn't have very much money to begin with..."

"That's rubbish. You had loads..." He trailed off and shut his mouth again.

"This house was expensive. It was rather a small ceremony..." 'Let's hope he doesn't read into that too much. Groose had next to nothing, we simply couldn't have a big wedding...' Unluckily, Link frowned, meaning he probably twigged onto the real meaning.

"And we are slowly bringing in money." 'Very slowly. Groose's machines are usually a failure, and the only way we are really staying afloat are by dad's constant paydays...'

Link frowned more deeply this time, and put up his hand. She batted it down, but said "Fine. What do you want to say?"

When he spoke, it wasn't in the cheerful and upbeat tones of her friend, it was more akin to what her father sounded like.

"Zelda... Your not happy here. Don't try and tell me that you are, because your rubbish at lying. Just... Answer me some questions. When was the last time he took you down to the bazaar?" He asked.

"I usually go down there myself, why?"

He sighed. "When was the time he did something for you? Cook you a meal, buy you a dress?" He asked again.

"He doesn't really cook, and we don't have that much money-" She was cut off by Link taking her face in his hands.

"Zelda, you don't deserve this. You don't deserve him. You don't deserve this after going down on the surface by yourself. You deserve someone who loves you...

"You deserve me Zelda. I would love you, I would care for you, I would work relentlessly for you, just to see a smile on your face..." He trailed off, and the pair stood still at the side off the room, looking into each others eyes.

"I didn't save you for nothing, Zelda. I saved you for you. I wanted you to have a nice life, Zel. I didn't want you to be upset." He seemed just about to touch lips with his before two figures strode in. Link's arms fell to his sides, and his frown was replaced with a slight smile, but Zelda recognised the hint of disappointment on his face: it wad the same one she had saw 11 months ago, when her and Link were constantly interrupted, trying to say they loved each other.

But this time he had said it. He had said he would love her if she wasn't with Groose. Does that mean he didn't love her now? She shook her head, and turned towards the two people who had come in.

"Heya you two. What's up?" Karane said happily, not seeming to notice what she had broken up.

Zelda tried to mimic Link's aura of easiness, but she couldn't get it just right. "Yeah, nothing much here. How about you?" She spoke slightly to fast, and Karane raised her eyebrows slightly, but didn't comment.

"Oh, I've just come over to say hi. We saw Groose walking to the knight academy, and thought we'd drop in. We hardly ever get to talk to you alone!" She glanced at Link, and then continued. "What were you two talking about?" She asked, quite naturally.

"Oh, nothing really." She forced herself not to look at Link, who she knew would have a questioning look in his face, no matter how good he was at hiding his emotion.

Idle talk went on for an hour or so. They all relaxed on the sparse furniture in the room, whilst Karane made some drinks for them all. It took her back to a time when she didn't have any troubles, like it used to be with them: easy, not having a care in the world outside of that house. She wasn't given much time to revel in the moment, however.

She could see Link casually talking to Pipit on the other side of the room. 'How could he be so composed after what we were talking about? He was asking for me to leave Groose, I was sure of it… So why can he casually fall from that into this?' She must have been staring a bit to much at Link, because Karane soon had a mischievous smile on her face.

"So what did we really walk in on?" She whispered, lowering her voice so the boys wouldn't hear.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She said hurriedly, trying to make Karane forget. "How are you and Pipit?"

She wasn't easily fooled. "Come _on_ Zelda! Tell me! I'm tired of you keeping secrets from me…" she whined, but not loud enough for the boys to hear.

"Fine, you want the answer? Link said he loved me. Happy?" Shock spread across Karane's face, and her jaw dropped.

"You mean he… Finally told you?" she whispered, not out of trying to keep it a secret, but out of shock.

"What do you mean 'finally'?" She said irritably. She was very annoyed at Karane, and at herself, for finally breaking to her stupid questioning.

"Well…" She said, reluctantly, "He told me a while back… At least a year ago now, when I think about it. I'm surprised it took him this long…" 'What?'

"He's loved me for… That long?" Zelda whispered. 'I knew he had always cared for me, but I never suspected he loved me over all that time… I would have said something if I knew that…'

"Yes Zelda, that long, and probably long before that as well. He's dying right now – not because of wounds or illness, but out of pain. He loves you, but cannot have you anymore…" Karane sadly said, and turned to look at an advancing Link and Pipit. She quickly shh'ed Zelda, and nodded at them. Zelda drew herself up, so she seemed less the schoolgirl who had just been told her friend loved her, and more the older, married woman.

"I'm going to head off then." He said, and suddenly her defence against him crashed. 'Don't go… I love you too!' But they were only thoughts, and she couldn't bring herself to say them. "Why?" She managed to say.

"Well, it is late, Zel. I've still got to sort out some sort of accommodation for now, as some kid's moved into my old room. All my stuff if still around though, so I'll have a look for that and turn in." He said, calmly and simply.

"Oh… Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." She replied, and smiled slightly. At least he would never be outside of her life forever. She didn't think she could take it again.

"About that…" With two simple words he wiped the smile from her face, and made her go crazy inside. 'What's happened now…' If she wasn't so scared, she would find it funny, the amount of… of… shit being thrown at her at a constant basis.

"I've been talking to Pipit about this new thing that's being organised. Some kind of expedition down to the surface or something. I thought I might join them. No one knows the surface like me."

"B-But don't you want to stay here? In Skyloft?" She asked. She was almost whimpering, but didn't care what she sounded like; all pretence was dropped, she didn't want to lose him again.

"There isn't anything for me here. Not anymore. No reason to stay anymore. Might as well try and help some others.

"But what about us? What about your friends, your neighbours? We will miss you..." 'I'll miss you. Are you trying to torture me now? To try and get me to confess?' She shook her head slightly. 'He would never do that... Would he?'

"And I will miss you. Of course I will. But then I also have to find someone to spend my life with, and I won't do it with you three." He smiled wryly, and then joked, "I've already been through two deaths for you, Zel. Can't I have a life with someone else?"

Even though he had good intentions, his words cut deep. 'Does he think I am trying to steal him in some way? That I am trying to keep him away from other women...' But in reality, it sounded like something she would do. She couldn't suffer through Link having a girlfriend, not even for a month. It would be too much for her.

"No, of course you can..." She looked at him, and even managed to smile a little. "So I bet you would want to be off, then?" She asked. If Link wasn't going to stick around, she wanted to have a swift ending to their relationship. She didn't want to be sad, but she also didn't want to think about him for any longer.

"Yeah, I should." There was regret in his eyes, and his jaw clenched. "Bye then, Zelda." He leaned in, and Zelda thought he was going to kiss her on the lips. She instead received a quick peck to the cheek before seeing him walk out the door, for what she thought could be another year.

"Bye..." She uttered after him, before turning back to her guests. They both looked sad, as if they had missed something important.

"We should probably head off too. Take care of this little lump." Karane patted her belly, and made her way towards the door. "Bye, Zel." She too walked out the door, following Link.

Pipit was the last to leave, his eyes filled with sorrow. He walked over to the door, but turned back before he left. "If there is anything I can do, Zelda, just let me know..." And with that, he too left, and closed the door behind him, leaving Zelda alone in her own house.

She wanted to leave as well. Maybe to run to Link, past the couple she knew would be lingering by the pathway, waiting to see if she would. Maybe to walk to the edge; it was dark now, and her loftwing wouldn't catch her anymore. She could end her suffering.

But she knew she wouldn't do any of these things. She would sit, in her house, helpless. 'When was I ever the one to be useful...' She thought to herself.

Then the tears started.

She just stood there for a while, crying. Then she had somehow managed to carry herself upstairs, to the bedroom, where a large but not uncomfortable bed lay. It was the only real piece of furniture they had bought, on Groose's request. She sank into it, and buried her head into the pillows, trying to dam the tides of tears overcoming her.

Late into the night, she registered Groose walk in and lie beside her. He didn't say anything, just lightly held her and stroked her hair. He had done the same when she first accepted Link was dead, and this felt like an re-enactment of that time. Slowly but surely, however, she eventually drifted into sleep, where the dreams provided her with a brief respite from the pain.

It wasn't enough. Link's decision haunted her, even in sleep. She had no escape.

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Link too was dreaming. He was asleep on a pile of clothes, which he had found bundled up in a storage room somewhere. They were at least better than the old, tattered rags he had worn from his coma.

He dreamt he was in the process of fighting Ghirahim, who he had come across in his travels. The scenery was non-descript, possibly in the desert. He wielded the master sword, and was able to match Ghirahim's strikes, blow for blow, until they both withdrew from each other, sword in hand and both wounded.

"Maybe I cannot best you in combat, mortal, but I can play with your conscience. Tell me, who is the girl you so rightly seek?" The demon lord uttered, evil dripping from every word.

"You know her name. Zelda." Link answered back. His voice seemed to echo, even though there were no walls.

"Ah, yes. What a fitting name for such an ugly girl." Link charged at him in rage, but he vanished, along with the surroundings. He was now in a black void, and he could see no edges to the world.

"She hates you, you know. She loves that other hero. The one who matters." Suddenly, the master sword was replaced by a cheap, brittle one, which dragged him arm to the ground with its weight.

"She hates you, boy. She always will." A figure emerged from the shadow, and appeared to be Zelda. She had her hands behind her back, and her face pointed at the floor.

"Zelda! I'm here to rescue you!" Link shouted, and ran towards his childhood friend.

"She will betray you, for the hero that matters." Suddenly, Zelda drew her arms from behind her, and was holding a knife. She thrust it towards Link, who dodged neatly out of the way.

"Zelda! What are you doing!" He parried the wild thrusts with his sword, and fended off the crazy girl. "Stop, Zel!"

"She can't hear you. She doesn't care anyway. She loves the other hero."

Zelda kept on making thrusts towards Link, and he constantly had to block and parry.

"Zelda, stop it! I don't want to hurt you!" Link shouted, and tried to grab her arm. His hand went through her, and he felt immense pain. He collapsed, and almost let her hit him.

"She will cause you pain at every turn, boy. Don't you forget it."

He parried and blocked for another 5 minutes before giving up. "Don't make me do this, Zel. Please don't."

She didn't respond to his words, and kept cutting at him. He sighed, with a singular tear on his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Zelda." And with that, he sliced her hand, and cleaved through her side. A brief look of pain entered her features just before she disappeared into black dust, fading into the surroundings.

"Impressive, boy. But do not think that was the end..." Almost on cue, another two Zelda's appeared, both with knives. Link quickly pulled up his sword, and slew one before it reached him. The same expression of pain appeared on her face, before she too exploded into dust.

Link readied himself and fought the second, cutting her down. Link started to whimper, tears coming out of his eyes.

Three more appeared, and Link readied himself again.

It was a long and hard struggle, but Link eventually beat off the last attacker of the 8th group. She fell to the floor, and gasped, before exploding into the same black dust. Link had tears streaming down his face, and his eyes were red, crying fully for the crime he had to commit.

"Are you done now, devil? Stop, and I will be merciful." He shouted. His voice still seemed to echo, and he brandished his sword at the air in front of him.

Another, alone Zelda appeared in front of him. He quickly slashed, and she fell to the ground. He turned away, and could not bear the sight of another death.

Strangely, he did not hear the sound of an explosion this time. He turned around, curious despite himself.

What lay before him blackened his soul. Lying in a pool of her own blood, a dying Zelda was gasping for air that wouldn't come. She was rolling around, her white dress being smeared with red as she bled from the wound _he_ had inflicted. He stood in shock before running to her, getting beside her, and holding her head in his hands.

"No... Please, not like this. Please..." He held her dying head in his calloused hand, and stroked her hair with the other. "Remember what we agreed on, Zelda? I was going to save you, right? Don't you want that little house by the lake, the tree's surrounding us, the children in the yard?" His tears dripped onto her face as he held her. She managed to choke out three, final words:

"Not... W-With you." She uttered, before she finally let go. Her lungs stopped gasping for air, her arm dropped, and she lay there, lifeless, in his arms.

"No..." He whimpered, before burying his face in her now red hair. He then was grasping and nothing, and couldn't smell the forgiving and sweet smell of his friend, instead the smell of death. He looked down, and saw a corpse lying on the ground, with a lock of blonde hair next to it. The corpse was wearing a white dress stained with red. He withdrew from the corpse, and looked up. Ghirahim stood opposite him, smiling evilly.

"Make it quick." Was Link's last request.

"Gladly." The demon lord replied. He drew back his sword, and lunged.


	13. Invasion

**Okay, be prepared, this will be a definite change to what is normally here. Warning: blood and gore waits on the next part of the chapter.**

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Wave upon wave, the Bokoblins fell upon the campsite. They poured in from one side, and crashed against the green cloaks of the Skyloftian Knights. Standing in a rough line, the men and woman fought off the constant onslaught of enemies, pushing against the line, trying to break through. They were beaten back again and again, but never relented.

Near the middle of the line fought a figure, clad in green and white. His blade whirled around him, constantly biting into the soft skin of his enemy. Eventually, the enemies directly around him had all fallen, and he was given a chance to catch his breath.

"Hold fast!" He shouted, as the outer lines of his men were still under attack. He could run to help, but he knew he shouldn't break the line, and get his men surrounded. It would be suicide.

'Why are there so many now? What has changed?' He thought to himself. Even he wasn't used to this amount of monsters, and he had been on the surface way before any of this happened.

The nights moon illuminated the valiant defenders of the forest. There were twelve of them, and they each wore the cloak and sigil of the Skyloftian Knights. They reformed back into a straight line, and each readied his or her blade, in their own fashion: some held it high above their head, some waved it low, as if enticing the enemy to attack.

The Goddess deciding to be unmerciful, and allowed another wave to escape her grasp. The half helms appeared over the hill, and threw themselves onto the attackers. Link cleaved the air, and leapt at them again.

He and his sword-mate, Kale, worked together to bring down the hoard. Link would falter to a heavy attack, and Kale would be next to him, slicing at his opponent. If a monster's weapon buried itself in one's shield, the other would bash him, and fight the monster until the owner of the shield could dislodge the weapon. They worked seamlessly, like they were extensions of one another. Soon, the second wave was faltering.

Link faced off against a stronger monster, a lieutenant of some kind. He wore a green cloth, pinned to his own skin. It was a badge of honour for the Bokoblins: the green cloth was a tearing of a knight's tunic, and the monster that killed a knight claimed his cloth like a trophy. This only enraged Link more. He pulled up his soft wooden shield, and faced off against the monster, which was armed with two swords.

The first blow came from the side, and struck Link's shield. The old wooden thing almost broke, but Link could tell it wouldn't be too long before it shattered into pieces. He retaliated with a cleave of his own, trying to cut the monsters rough hide. He was not given the chance to do so however, and was soon locked in a battle of strength against the Bokoblins. He flung himself back, not wanting to give the creature an edge, before charging back into the fray.

His sword sung like the wind, cutting at the head, the legs, the chest of the creature, but to no avail. He kept blocking the attacks, with a smug look on his face.

His sword-mate was fighting his own enemy, so Link did not call on him for help. Instead, he deftly feigned to one side, but lunged to the other, chipping the leathery skin. The creature roared in anguish, and began to chop away at Link. He tried to parry every blow with his sword, but eventually, following a brutal slice to the jaw, had to use his shield to defend himself. The monster's weapon became lodged in the shield, and Link seized the opportunity: he twisted his shield, wrestling the weapon out of the creature's hand, and then threw the broken shield to the floor. Now, they each had a single sword.

Their steel met in the dance of death, cutting through air and, unfortunately for Link, skin. Their blades clashed and sparked, as they fought the other for the advantage, each warrior needing just a second to claim victory. They backed away from each other after a long minute, each bearing cuts and wounds, though neither cared. They wanted blood, and would not stop until they got it.

Their swords met in the middle again, and the sound rang out across the camp. They faced each other again and again, but could not best the other in terms of skill.

Then, suddenly, he heard a cry from next to him. Kale had been disarmed by a monster with some kind of wire net, and was fighting off his pursuers with little more than a knife and shield. Link broke off from his attacker, and went to help his sword-mate. He picked up a discarded sword, and went screaming to his friend's aid, wielding two swords, brutally slicing the head off a shorter creature. Blood spattered over him, and his face had droplets of scarlet on it: not that he had time to notice admits the carnage.

He threw his second sword to Kale before turning to attack his nemesis again. Unfortunately, he was too slow, and his chest was cut diagonally, leaving a rip in his tunic and staining it with his blood. He cursed in pain, but flew back at the creature, who parried his thrusts with more difficultly. 'He's weakening!'

Unfortunately, his small victory was short lived. He was knocked over by an unexpected upwards slice, sword flying out of his hand, and was left open for his attacker to finish him. He closed his eyes, praying for a quick death. Instead, he got another wound to the chest by the dumb warrior. He screamed in pain, and clutched his side. It was only a flesh wound, however: the sword had scrapped down his side, but not penetrated his muscles.

But he was still on the floor, helpless against his attacker. He looked up to see a sword flying at his face, what would be a killing blow if Kale's sword hadn't blocked it inches from Link's face. He tried to get back up to his feet, but the pain forced him back down. He then heard two brief, loud blasts from a horn: the monster's signal for retreat. He saw his nemesis back off, fending off Kale's attacks before running over the hills. All too quickly, the air was filled with silence, apart from the groans of the dying monsters.

"Commander? Are you alright?" Asked Kale, kneeling beside him.

"I'm... Fine, Kale... Just fine..." He spluttered, but his actions betrayed him. He took one hand from his chest, and it was covered in scarlet blood. Kale's eyes bulged.

"Come on, let's get the guy to have a look at you." Kale said. The guy was the nickname for the doctor that travelled with them, and had helped them all out of sticky situations.

"Put the dying out of their misery, Kale. I'll walk, I'm fine." Groaned a weakened Link. Kale nodded, and began to find the groaning monsters. They did not need to suffer, and it was not their fault they fought: they were bred for it. It was the unwritten code that they should not be tortured, and their sword-mates ensured this was the case. They eased the passing of each creature without a hint of guilt.

Finally managing to stand, Link dragged himself off to the doctor's tent. Now he had the time to think, he was really injured; many cuts covered his body, and the slice from his chest was irritating him. He limped inside the doctor's tent, and slumped down, defeated.

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"We are sending you home. No ifs, not buts, the wounds you have make you an inefficient defender, and you must recover. A month should do it."

Such simple words, but such a big impact. Back home? To Skyloft? "A week will do." He replied, knowing he was pushing his luck.

His captain sighed. He was never one to argue with the commander, Link having risen through the ranks by his proficiency with sword and shield. But he was not unkind, and knew Link wanted to stay with them. Unfortunately, however, he didn't have a choice.

"Fine. A week it is. But don't come back expecting a soft treatment. Kale and me will push you to your limits, as we always have." Link nodded, and walked out of the tent, preparing to make his way back. He found his sword-mate outside, waiting for him.

Kale and Link were paired up within the first few days of the expedition. They were there, along with everyone else, to ensure the protection of a select few Skyloftians who had decided to live on the surface. The choice had been made by the knights to make a pairing out of each one, and they had become good friends.

"Why are you out here? I'd thought you would be training with the others." Link asked, as he shifted a bag onto his shoulder and started to pack a few supplies in.

"Oh, didn't they tell you? I'm going back with you. I managed to get a week's leave, so I decided to spend it back in the sky. To be honest, the pub down here served what can only be called piss..." Link laughed. Kale's drunkenness was a complete opposite to what he was like in training. The first time he went on leave with him, he ended up in a barn with Kale spending the night sleeping in chicken feed. He always enjoyed their relaxation time.

"Why do you want to go to all this trouble? Don't try to tell me drinking piss is worse than that watery pumpkin juice..." Link asked.

"Ah, that's the thing. I've got my girl up there, you see. Love of my life." Link was surprised, having never heard of Kale talking of a girl before.

"Really? What's her name?"

"Christine or Kate or Rebecca. Does it matter?" He laughed an easy laugh, and then asked back: "What about you, hey? A girl waiting for you in the sky?"

"Ha... Maybe. I haven't seen her in forever..." Link trailed off, thinking about someone he had almost forgotten.

"Yeah? What's she called?" Kale asked back.

"Zelda. The love of my life. That was, before she got married." He sighed again, and started walking the long walk to town.

"Shit... Dude, how come you never told me this?" Kale asked, seriously.

"Because I didn't want to. She's the reason I joined up. To try and forget." Kale knew when to keep silent and let his friend brood, and they quietly made their way back towards the town, to where they could both get back up to their forgotten home.

"Do you have a house up there? Back home?" Link asked.

"Ha... I have a bed, but nothing as fancy as a house. I'll just bunk up with someone, I guess. You?"

"Nah, I don't have a house. Mind you, all this back pay we've been promised... We've been away for a while, what are we owed?" He asked, counting his on his fingers.

Kale stopped walking, with a look of realisation on his face. "Almost... No, more than 7000 rupees..." He trailed off, and Link turned to look at him.

"That's including all the rupees we've taken out of chests and the such?" He asked.

"Yup. You'll have a bit more, being the commander and all..." He shook his head. "Still... 7000... Maybe I will buy myself a house."

Eventually, after a long walk back, they reached the surface town. After picking up a quick bite to eat at the pumpkin store (which had been started by the waitress in the Lumpy Pumpkin), Kale grabbed a simple sailcloth from a bin, which the people whose loftwings were too scared to go below the cloud layer used, and ascended to the sky. Link instead called his loftwing, and went to the sky that way. The pair eventually met in the air astride their loftwings, and they made their way back.


	14. Shmash'd

**You know what was funny about writing this chapter? I was originally intending to give it a break, and the EXACT moment I think this, I get 7 e-mails through saying how I got good reviews and alerts. Lolz all round.**

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Link landed on Skyloft with Kale, and they both dismounted and walked towards the Bazaar. They made idle chatter about their memories of their home as they walked.

"I remember, me and Zelda, we went to the Bazaar when it was closed, and someone had left it unlocked!" Reminisced Link, staring into the air.

"You're kidding! What happened then?" Kale asked, laughing.

"We cooked with the forge, we stole a few potions... Hell, there's this little shelf she has hidden behind the counter, and it has the weirdest potions in it! Seriously!" He said. "There was this one that made both of us so dizzy, we started to see the whole world upside down! Mad times..."

"You're kidding! What else?"

"Ummmm... Oh! Yeah, there was one that gave you clown feet, and a tiny head! It was like we were puppet!" Link and Kale both laughed, and eventually got to the Bazaar.

"This Zelda girl, you seem to have a lot of fond memories of her. What's she like?" He asked, a bit hesitantly, knowing he could very easily get a rebuke from Link.

"Oh... Well, in my opinion, she was perfect in every way. Funny, smart, mischievous. We always used to go creeping around after dark." Link smiled. "Yeah, she's great. Maybe you can meet her. She should be somewhere around."

Kale smiled too. "Yeah, that'd be cool. Perhaps you could set us up?" He asked jokingly. Link took the joke, and laughed too. "Speaking of that, didn't you say she was married?"

Link sighed. "Yeah, that is the case. You couldn't guess who she married though... Okay, who do you think is the biggest idiot on this island?" He asked, with a smile on his face.

"Ummm... Stritch? No? Okay, how about Peatrice?" Link shook his head. "Oh, I don't know! Want me to list every guy on Skyloft? Was it Gaepora? Is that the scandal?" Link gave him a cold look before speaking.

"Okay, think about the biggest idiot, then put a stupid hair style on it." It was a big clue, and Kale's mouth opened wide.

"The love of your life married Groose? Low blow..." He muttered. "Are they even happy together? I've wanted to slug that guy a few times myself..."

Link nodded. "Last time I checked, they were doing... Okay, I guess. I made him grab a job before he starved her to death, then left to go down to you lot. I should probably check up on her..." He trailed off.

"You seem pretty obsessed with her." Link shot Kale daggers. "Oh, not like that! I wouldn't expect anyone to want a married woman, but she seems to have a keen friend."

"I guess your right." Both men bought a couple of drinks, and Link held his high. "To Zelda!" He toasted. Kale joined, and they downed both their beers.

"Ha... I could get used to this. Living like a king in the daytime, sleeping under the stars at night." Both men bought another beer, and started sipping at it. They talked about their previous lives for a while, until a loud voice shouted from behind them.

"Link! Oh my god!" A familiar voice shouted. Kale looked over his shoulder, and raised his eyebrow.

"That's Zelda? From a guy like you, I expected a little more... Pazzaz?" He stifled his laugh at his made up word. Link also turned around, but didn't see Zelda, but another woman he knew.

"That's my other friend, Kale." He was interrupted by a hug from the shouter. "Nice to see you too." He said, when she had been hanging onto him for too long as was comfortable.

"Link! When did you get back?" She half shouted. "And who's this?" She asked, indicating Kale.

"Ah yes. Kale, meet Karane, Karane, meet Kale. He is my sword-mate from the expedition, and Karane is an old friend of mine." He said, introducing them both. He then whispered in Kale's ear, "Don't get ideas, she was pregnant a bit ago." He gave him a meaningful look, and turned back to Karane.

"So you've lost weight." He said. She frowned back at him.

"What's that meant to mean? That's the first thing you say to me after all this time?" She asked, a little angry at least.

He sighed. "I was trying to subtly imply that you are not, in fact, pregnant. I'm sorry if my wit is so dry, but I have been fighting death for a time now." He stated in a monotone voice, and Karane couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, when were you worried about death? You shook hands with it before. What's the count now, three, four times?" She smiled.

"Twice, actually." Kale's eyes widened, and Link responded. "A long story, which mainly involves me jumping from large heights. I'll tell you about it later." He turned back to Karane. "So you have a kid now? And how's Pipit, or have you bored him to death with your baby talk?"

"Oh, Pipit's fine. And so is Robert. The whole thing went off without a hitch, really. Here was me, with all my backup plans and guides, and Pipit turns out to be the perfect father, damn him. But speaking of fathers, do you know who isn't one yet?" She asked, with a mischievous smile on her face.

"You mean... Groose still hasn't had a child yet? Your kidding!" Kale perked up, having no idea what the conversation was about until now.

"Nope, Zelda is still a maiden bare. It's strange really, you wouldn't expect there to be much wrong with the 'hero' and everything." She said 'hero' as if it was a dirty word, and Link picked up on this. He had also finished his third beer, and picked up another one.

"I hope that isn't a youthanism, Karane. It's a fairly bad one, when all's said and done." He said, erupting a loud snigger from both Kale and Karane.

The trio eventually ran into Pipit, who Kale knew from around even if he didn't know him by name. They made conversation, allowing Karane and Link to talk together.

"So how have Zelda and Groose been, apart from the whole barren thing?" He asked idlely, as if he was trying to just pass the time. Karane saw through him.

"Still interested in her?" She mocked, before continuing on. "She's been fine with Groose. He finally pulled his act together, but something still isn't right. It's the spark, the flair, you know? When Pip and me are together, we want to be there. With Zelda, it's like her duty or something." She ended, and although Link had a burning desire to know more, he didn't pry any more. It would seem to suspicious. He looked down and spotted something shiny.

"Huh. So I can't help but notice _this_." He pulled her hand up to show a yellow gold ring, plated with intricate silver markings, with a white diamond on top.

She sighed lovingly, before pointing to Pipit. "He proposed. It was so beautiful... The sun shining down, the wind blowing his hair too and fro. That, and this ring cost a bomb. He must have been saving up for years..." She sighed again.

"What are you two going on about?" Asked a disgruntled Kale, who was still idly talking to Pipit.

"Oh, just saying how my fiancé is a lovebird." She smiled ruefully at Pipit. "In more ways than one..." Link sighed in embarrassment.

"If you two weren't my friends, I would be walking away right now..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

"Speaking of heading off, I'm going to check with Zelda. Don't worry, I won't tell her your back, you can savour that surprise." She kissed all men on the cheek, with an extra one for Pipit, before walking off to Zelda's house.

"So what do you wanna do?" Kale asked the pair.

"Well." Said Pipit, "I was thinking of finishing my watch hours for today. If you're back for the whole week, we've got some catching up to do. I'll speak with you later." He walked off in the direction of the academy, leaving Kale and Link alone.

"So I was thinking we... Could..." He trailed off, and gazed in the far distance. Link looked behind him and saw a girl who he didn't know.

"Is that Rebecca?" He asked, silently laughing at how much of a womaniser his friend was.

"Could be. Could also be Hayley. One way to find out." He patted Link on the arm and sauntered over to the girl, who greeted him fondly. With a rueful smile back at him, Link was left on his own.

He took a step towards the knight academy himself, and stumbled a bit. 'Beer might be having a _small_ effect...' He thought to himself, and stumbled over to a tree, which he leaned against. He sank to the ground, and sipped his drink a bit more.

'Why has everyone got such a good life? Pipit has Karane, Groose has Zelda, Kale has... Everyone, why can't I have someone?' He thought to himself. 'I bet Groose isn't even in... Maybe I should visit... Just check in on her, right? No harm in that, right?' His brain screamed a thousand reasons why he shouldn't, but another drop of alcohol drowned his fears. But something also told him he probably shouldn't go to her house blind drunk as well, so it was only a small drop of alcohol.

He eventually stumbled over to her house, attracting some queer looks from passers by. He steadied himself against the door, and smoothed out his shirt, not wanting to appear dirty even though he was very drunk. 'What could possibly go wrong?'

The door opened, causing him to almost topple over, as he was still leaning against it. However, he was pushed backwards by someone seeming to run straight into him, and he caught his ankle on the path, bowling them both over into the dirt. He realised they had their arms around his neck, and he embraced them back, both of them sprawled on the dirt. "Link!" He heard the figure shout.

"Hey sweetie." He said back, and laughed at his own choice of words. He was definitely in a weird kind of mood, and he suspected he was inebriated. Although he actually thought 'smashed' would be a better description.

Zelda got up and dusted herself off. He reminded himself that they were not little children any more; they couldn't just go jumping into the dirty like they used too. He pulled himself up too, and after he had balanced himself, gave her a proper hug.

He dug his face into her neck, and breathed in deeply. Although they had been separated many times over the past year and a half, he hadn't really been away from her smell before. He had been able to get into her room and remind himself what he was fighting for, and for the rest of the time he had been asleep, but now was the first time he had had any contact with her for longer than a month. She smelt of fresh roses and tulips, but she may as well have smelled of manure and rotting pumpkin. He didn't care _what_ she smelled like, just that she was here again.

They finally broke apart, and Zelda happily bounded inside, pulling Link with her and making him trip over the doorstep.

"Wow, you really can't hold your drink." Said another figure, seated on a long couch.

"Nice to see you again too, Karane." He replied, following Zelda and sitting next to her on another couch. It looked like the two girls had just been gossiping, but from the very spontaneous reaction he had got from Zelda, he guessed Karane hadn't let slip he was back yet.

"Hang on..." Said Zelda, "What do you mean 'again'? Did you already know that-"

"Details, details. I'll get you a drink." Karane got up and moved into the kitchen, where they heard a few small clatterings and bangings.

"Link! How have you been?" She asked exitedly, looking animatedly at his face, as if she was hanging onto every word.

"Ummm... Good, yeah, fine. Totally well. And yourself?" He asked, hesitantly.

"I'm fine... Are you really drunk? You don't seem like you used to, but I've never seen you physically drunk before. Are you alright?" She asked nervously.

"Zelda, calm down." He looked at her patronisingly. "Just cause I'm a little drunk doesn't mean I'm dying or anything..." He rolled his eyes. "So obsessive..." He sarcastically stated. He got a small punch on the arm.

"Ow! You know, why is it that whenever I see you, I get hit? Almost makes it not worth the trouble..." He looked down at the door and sighed, like he was depressed.

"You're a terrible liar, Link." She said, before playfully nudging him. He looked up with a grin on his face.

"I'm that bad, huh? Shame..." He laughed, and stretched out on the couch. Zelda nestled into his arms, and he held her there. They both were sprawled out on the couch, and they sat in silence for a while, enjoying the moment.

"So where have you been?" She eventually asked, when she had gotten comfortable.

"Oh, just down on the surface, like I said... What is it, four months ago now?" Zelda nodded, and he continued. "Yeah, my team's been down there, defending the new colony down there. It was fun at first, but now... Well, it's kind of getting heated. It's why I'm up here anyway.

"See, I got injured, so me and Kale got sent up, to have some free time." He nodded to himself, and saw Zelda's quizzical look, and he answered her question before she could ask. "Kale is my sword-mate. He is kind of a half trainer, half trainee, half friend, half ally. And he's also two different people..." He laughed silently at his strange joke, and Zelda herself couldn't help but laugh too.

Karane came in with two drinks, and raised her eyebrows at the twos questionable position with each other, but she let it go for now. "Here you are, one for you, and one for you." She placed Lin's very definitely in his hand, and the same with Zelda.

"Aren't you staying, Karane?" Zelda asked, as Karane made for the door.

"Oh, I need to go help Pipit with... Something. I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Bye Link!" She chimed, before almost closing the door. "Besides, I'd doubt there is room for three in a twosome..." Zelda looked down, abashed, but Link didn't notice in his drunken haze. She took a sip of her drink, and spat it out again.

"What's wrong?" Link asked, noticing her discomfort.

"Oh, nothing. Apparently Karane just wants to get me drunk..." She held up her glass. "Whiskey, all of it."

Link took on a slightly mocking tone. "Too young for alcohol, Zel?" He asked, as he downed his own glass, with only a little grimace at the end. Not wanting to be outmatched, Zelda did the same, but with a rather loud gasp at the end.

"Hey, it isn't fair! You've already been drinking..." She teased. They carried on chatting and taunting for a while longer, before Zelda too started to become a bit dizzy. 'Strong whiskey... Why do I even have that stuff? When did I buy it?' Irrelevant questions which only interested the sober side of her, which had left a minute ago.

"I see you fixed the place up then. It looks nice. Beautiful, even." He stared at her for a little to long was necessary before she replied.

"Yeah, it is rather nice. But there are still things I want to do. Such as a cellar, for instance." Cellars were important, as the wind kept the underside of the island cold, making cellars the perfect place to preserve food in. Most people used salt and ice, or failing that, themselves.

"You should do that. You deserve it. Your the most beautiful person on the island, you should have a cellar at least..." He was staring at her again, but she was staring back.

"You really think so? Thanks..." She replied, but trailed off as well, being enthralled by his eyes. She was entranced, like his eyes were whirlpools in which her heart was slowly sinking into.

"Yeah... I do..." He moved closer to her, as if he wanted to kiss her, but was afraid of her reaction.

She screamed at herself, 'You're married to Groose! Married!' But that seemed irrelevant. All that mattered was right now, on this couch. 'And Groose isn't coming come tonight.' With that last thought, she moved in to kiss him, closing the gap between them.

It was short and sweet, just how she wanted their first kiss to be. He moved in deeper, kissing her for longer, until they were interlocked in each other's embrace. Nothing mattered but now. But this.

'But this is wrong!' She shouted at herself, but she didn't care. She was vaguely aware of being lifted in his arms, whilst they were still kissing, before being carried upstairs, and her last memory was of falling asleep, blissfully, her head resting on his bare chest.

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**I'm skipping the lemon. Deal with it. I really didn't want to write it, and I think this covers what happens without going into detail. Anyway, thanks for the good reviews, and I hope to be hearing from you again soon! **

**I'm running out of ways to say bye...**

**Bai? I'll settle with bai.**

**Bai!**


	15. The Consequence

Zelda stirred in her bed, resting on her pillow. She shook her head slightly, and opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings like she did every day. She looked over and saw a figure lying next to her, snoring softly, hidden by the covers. She was half tempted to push Groose out, but she couldn't find the energy.

'Huh... I usually get dressed for bed...' She thought to herself. 'What happened yesterday?' She had a splitting headache, and remembered it was probably from all the drink she had drunk.

Then it all came flooding back.

The laughter. The kiss. The bedding.

What was she thinking? She was a married woman, she couldn't do this! But she had, and had to face up to the consequences.

She was drunk when it happened, and so was he... Maybe he won't remember... But he was likely too, he was going to wake up in her bed...

He stirred in her bed, and her heart stopped beating. He turned slightly, and fell back to sleep. 'Phew... But what am I going to say to him? "Thanks for sleeping with me, get out of my house"? "Yesterday was a mistake, please forgive me"? But it wasn't a mistake, was it...

'Fine. Maybe I love him. That much is clear. Maybe I would rather be with him than be with Groose... But I'm married to Groose, and no one has divorced in centuries in Skyloft! What am I going to do...' He mumbled something, and turned over again.

She then had an inkling of an idea, and was ashamed at herself for having it. 'Stupid stupid stupid!' She shouted at herself, but she went through with her idea. She got back under the covers and hid her face, mentally scalding herself. She tried to calm herself, and make it seem like she was asleep, and hadn't just had a nervous breakdown. 'He's going to wake up in a minute... Damn, why is today the day he wants to get up early!'

She heard a shuffling from next to her, and almost froze again, trying to regulate her breathing so she wouldn't hyperventilate. She was facing the floor, and so wasn't able to gauge his reaction, but she felt him prop himself up slightly.

"Uhhh..." She heard him groan. 'Oh, that's what you think of this? Just a groan? Am I just some kind of fling to you then?' She hyperactively thought, and was more hurt than angry. 'Why does he think that?' She asked herself.

"What did I do last night..." He groaned again, and Zelda became calm again. 'Maybe he hasn't seen me or something. At least he didn't groan about me... It was probably his hangover. He drank a lot more than me.'

Zelda felt him roll over, and almost crash straight into her. 'Oh Goddess...'

"Oh..." She heard. "Fuck..." She allowed him that. She was a little suspried herself, at finding Link with her. "That's what I was doing last. night..." 'Really! An innuendo! Is now the time?'

He groaned again, and she felt him roll off the bed. She heard some shuffling, and the sounds of him getting dressed. 'So what, your just going to leave? Thanks for nothing Link...' She then felt him sit on the side of the bed, then lean in next to her. 'What is he doing?' She asked herself.

She felt him cuddle up to her, and he slipped an arm under her. 'Is he... Cuddling me? I thought he was just going to leave... I wish he would, otherwise it means I'm going to have to explain myself to him... But I wish he would stay as well. I still love him, no matter what I try and fool myself with.'

With his other arm, he stroked her hair softly, and he pulled her closer to him, so they were touching bodies. She tried to keep herself still as much as possible, so Link couldn't tell she was fooling him.

He carried on lying next to her and stroking her hair for another few minutes. 'Is he going to stop?'

She eventually decided to 'Wake up'. Hopefully she could act well enough... She stirred slightly, and yawned hugely, stretching her arms in front of her.

"Good morning." He said. She froze herself, as if in surprise.

"Huh?" She said simply. It came out wierdly, as if she didn't really mean it at all.

"How are you, Zel?" He said it so simply, like he was asking her when they were in the Bazaar or something.

"I'm... Good..." She replied, hesitantly.

"Really? Just good? After last night, I'd at least think you'd be brilliant." He spoke so confidently, it was strange to Zelda. She was normally the one who took control of the situation.

"About last night..." She started, but Link put a finger on her lips, and quietened her.

"It's fine, I understand if you thought it was a mistake. I understand if you want to keep this a secret, and never talk of this again. But in truth, it wasn't a mistake, and you know that. You know I love you, and I somehow suspect you love me too. How do you explain this otherwise?" He gestured to her body, and she blushed, looking towards the floor. "Zelda, I love you, but I don't want to outcast you either. I'm not going to ask you for anything, just the knowledge you love me. You don't have to divorce Groose, you won't have to face your father and tell him you cheated on your husband. You just have to tell me you love me."

A silence befell the room after he stopped speaking. He turned Zelda over and looked into her eyes, like he did the day before.

"Zelda? Do you love me? I'll fell a bit of an idiot if you don't..." He grinned, but Zelda kept her expressionless face.

'I love you. I love you! But if I tell you, then I'll have to live with the guilt... Of leading Groose on, of leaving you without being allowed to be with you. It would be torture...' Her thoughts were interupted by Link talking again.

"I'll understand if you don't want me, Zel. I guess I was just being stupid..." He closed his eyes, and bit his lip, as if he was trying to stop himself crying. 'He's never been this emotional before...' Then it hit her.

'Maybe he needs me... Maybe he loves me so much, it pains him to think that I might not love him back. He talked to Groose like a friend, but I could tell he loathed him underneath...'

"Zel?" He asked again. Zelda hadn't moved at all, and her face still stood in the slight susprised state it had been in. Link rolled over to the other side of the bed, and got up. He had gotten fully dressed in his knight's clothing, only leaving his sword and shield by the door. He went to pick them up.

"I suspose it doesn't really matter. I guess I was a fool to think you loved me. I'll go now." He made towards the door, and opened it slightly.

'Your letting him walk out of your life again! Say you love him! NOW!' But she could not bring herself to say it, even though she knew she would tear herself up with guilt when he left, and Link would be depressed for looking such a fool.

"There's a pretty big fight down on the surface. Shouldn't be too hard to take myself out of the picture." And with that, he walked out of the room, and left Zelda on her own, staring blankly at the wall. 'Did he just say... NO!' She suddenly started moving, jumping up to try to find something, anything to cover herself with.

'I won't let him die. I can't survive him dying a third time, it would kill me... Right, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!' She grabbed a robe, and hurried out her bedroom door. She ran downstairs, but the front door was swinging closed. 'No!' She ran outside, barely dressed at all.

Link was making his way towards the edge of skyloft, probably to throw himself off the edge. Zelda wasn't sure he would even call his loftwing. She ran as fast as she could over to him. He turned his head at the sound of her comming, but he had already jumped off the edge. She threw herself after him.

They reached each other in mid air, and she embraced him. He let out a high pitched whistle, and they both suddenly were on the magnificent crimson loftwing. She looked down, already embarrised about what she was going to say.

"Zel? Is there something you wanted?" He asked. She looked up, and saw a glint of a tear in the corner of his eye.

"I love you." A stoney silence followed her words, as she flew below the rock of Skyloft. Then he kissed her.

It wasn't like the kiss they had last night. Before, they were both drunk, and couldn't really think about what they were doing. This kiss was filled with passion, with emotions, with the pent up feelings of their intertwined childhoods.

'I love you, Link. Never leave me again.' She thought, and moved in closer. He hungrilly kissed her back, and the pair flew off below Skyloft, oblivious to the world.

Eventually, though, they had to stop. They broke their kiss, and looked at each other for a long while.

"I love you Link, and I'm sorry. I wish I wasn't married..." She said, and rested her head against his chest. "We can never truly be together..."

"Oh, I'm not sure about that. We were together then. And now." He clutched her closer, and pressed his cheek to he head.

They set down again next to her front door. She hugged him again, but Link lightly pushed her away. "Not outside. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Oh, how much more trouble could I be in? It's not like I've slept with you or anything..." She said sarcastically, and he grinned. She walked inside the house, however, and sat down on the couch. He followed her, and kneeled in front of her.

"Look, Zelda..." He started. "I'm still going to have to go..." She made a face, and was about to complain before Link shushed her again. "I'm going to come back, don't worry. But I feel I should give you something, as a gift."

"You've already given me you, Link. That's all I need." She replied, easily. She was a lot more confident now she had said those three words.

"Listen, please. I never gave you a wedding present, so consider this a sorry for that." He unhooked a pouch from his belt, and held it in front of her.

"For you. I'm staying for another four days, so I should probably mingle with some other people. But I promice I'll be back." He kissed her fingers. "Promice." He placed the bag next to her, and made for the door.

"I love you!" She called after him. He smiled, and walked through the door. She was fine with him leaving now. He was comming back, for once. He promiced.

She looked quisically at the bag he had left her. She picked it up, and it jingled slightly. It was also fairly heavy. She placed it in front of her, and looked inside. Dozens of orange rupees looked back.

'There must be... Over four thousand rupees here... Link is generous...' She thought about all the things she could do, the cellar, the pond, the garden. But mostly, she thought about Link. She went to sleep on the couch, with sweet dreams of Link and the night before in her head. She clutched to the bag in her sleep: it might as well have been empty, as the simple smell provided Zelda with more pleasure than any stack of rupees could. She slept softly, knowing her lover was going to return tommorow, finally.


	16. Suspicious Groose

**A couple of things I just wanted to mention, because I'm writing on my blackberry: if a k is out of place, it is probably meant to be a ', if an l is out of place, it is meant to be a ", and if an n is out of place, it is a ,. Sorry, but I don't always grammar and spellcheck because I normally get things right, and I might have made a few of these mistakes. Hope they are ironed out. R&R! If you do have any critisisms of this story, do say so. I like to improve my work, and knowing what you thought was good or bad let's me focus on or ignore these parts. Don't hold back either, I really don't mind being told my story is shite if it helps me improve it. Danke shun!**

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She was shocked. She was worried. She was amazingly happy.

She was pregnant.

She lay on her bed and stroked her belly, contemplating what she had just learned.

'Finally!' Was what had mainly being going through her head. Her and Groose had been trying for months, and it had finally worked.

But in the back of her mind, there was a little thought that was niggling away at her. Destroying her.

'Is it really Groose's baby? Me and Link had slept with each other at just the right time...' She frowned. 'What am I going to say if it is?' She couldn't even ask Link what he thought she should do: it had been five weeks since he had left, back to fighting monsters on the surface. She was lonely without him, but she still had Karane and Groose and Pipit to talk to.

'Actually... Couldn't I go down to the surface? I was the first one down there, why can't I go again?' She asked herself. She got up, being careful not to strain herself, and went to see Groose downstairs.

When she reached him, he was relaxing on the couch, reading a paperback. He looked up at her and smiled. "Hey Zelda. What's up?"

She walked over to where he lay, and he moved his legs, so she could sit down next to him. "Oh, nothing much, really. How about you?"

"Oh, just reading this book you bought me. Fairly interesting... But not as much as you." He put the book down next to him, and leaned in to kiss her. She leaned in to, and kissed him back. She couldn't help but compare Link and Groose when she was like this. Link was more gentle, more of a loving kisser, whilst Groose just seemed hungry for her.

They eventually broke apart, and she asked him: "Hey, do you want to go down to the surface? I was just thinking, we haven't been back down there in a while, and it might be nice to say hi to everyone that's moved down there."

"Sure, Zelda. I'd love do. Do you want to go today?" He asked, and got up.

She was secretly very pleased. She hadn't expected him to be so easy to convince. "Yeah, that would be great. I'll pack a bit of food, we'll have a picknick." Groose grinned at the idea, and went off to find a basket.

They eventually had everything packed, and they jumped off the island together. After landing on their loftwings, they made for Faron Woods, where they knew Link would be. After a long flight, and decending through the clouds on their loftwings, they landed in the middle of a shanty town.

The people who decided to settle on the island were mainly young teenagers and shopkeepers, wanting to set up shop and find riches in the caves and chasms. The downside to this was that none of the inhabitants could build a decent house, resulting in many homes that just had dirt walls and a cloth roof. Zelda didn't know how they coped with all the stress of fighting for your food every day, but she guessed they somehow managed it.

She spotted some small pumpkins growing outside an open door. It was one of the few with an actual wooden wall, and there was a sign above the door which read: 'The Slumpy Pumpkin.' 'Real original...' Thought Zelda, but she made her way towards the door.

When her and Groose got inside, they were met with a dark and gloomy room. There were a few torches along the wall, but otherwise that was it. However, she could still make out a counter, with two figures either side of it. One leaned into the light, and spotted them.

"Groose? Zel? What are you two doing here?" Asked Peatrice. She had known the girl from all her visits to The Lumpy Pumpkin, and was friendly with her. She briskly walked up to the counter and hugged her.

"How have you been?" Zelda asked, when they broke apart.

"Oh, fine I guess. But I cannot believe you and Groose are finally down here!" She hugged Groose as well, and was about to launch into major gossip mode before the other person in the shop coughed loudly.

"Oh... Sorry, yeah. I'll just fix your order." Peatrice smiled at him, and made a 'sorry' face to Zelda. 'Back in a minute.' She mouthed, before disapearing through a door.

Zelda leant on the counter in front of her, and Groose did the same. The other man, however, caught her arm and turned her towards him.

"Did she say your name was Zelda?" He asked politely. She nodded, and this made the man smile a little. "I'm Kale." He held out his hand, and she shook it. He did the same to Groose.

"I understand your friends with someone I know. Someone called Link?" He asked her. She too sprung into a huge smile.

"Yeah, we are." Groose mumbled acceptance. "Why, how do you know him?" She asked him, her head full of Link.

"Oh, I'm his sword-mate. We fight together and everything at the camp." He smiled some more, and asked: "Do you want me to tell him your here? I'm sure he'll be glad to come down and see you."

She felt extatic. Everything that she wanted was comming true. Groose just grunted. "Yeah, that's be great... Kale, right? Yeah." She was so hyperactive, she had almost forgotten his name.

"I'll go do that then. I've got to get back anyway." Peatrice came out of the door, and gave a big pumpkin-shaped bag to Kale.

"See you around then. I'll tell Link to come down." And after a bye from Zelda, he left, and Zelda watched him go with glee. 'I'm going to see Lllllllllink, I'm going to see Lllllllink.' She thought to herself. After gossiping with Peatrice a little, and ordering a bottle of pumpkin soup to go with their picnic, the pair went outside and found a grassy area to eat at.

Whilst they were eating, Zelda kept on looking around to see if she could see Link. After the fifth time this happened, Groose became a little confused.

"What are you looking for, Zelda? Do you want to move or something?" He asked, a frown on his face.

She realised she had been ignoring him for a bit, and quickly covered for herself. "Oh, no one. Did you hear what my father was talking about yesterday?" She asked, trying to derail him.

Groose frowned more deeply. "What do you mean, no one? I asked if what you were looking for..." She hurridely racked her brain for some kind of excuse, but came up empty. He sighed.

"Your looking for Link, arn't you... Damn it..." He shook his head, and looked away from her. "Always about Link..."

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm not looking for Link..." She tried to be confident, but the words came out wierdly, like she was trying to lie. Which she was. 'Damn! I should have been more careful...'

"Your always doing something about him. Looking for him, talking about him, making something for him. Everything is about him. It's like..." He paused, and looked at her with discontent. "It's like you love him, not me."

'Oh Goddess! Have I really been going on about Link so much!' She thought. To be honest, however, it didn't really surprise her: after they had bedded, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She even was painting a picture once, and didn't realise it was Link she was painting until she was halfway through.

"I don't know what you mean. You know I love you Groose. I married you, didn't I?" She replied, trying to hold back her fear. Groose had her pinned down, however, and she doubted that he would be convinced.

"I know you married me, and I know you loved me then... But you don't love me now. You love him now. Ever since he came back..." He looked down at the ground, and held his head in his hand.

'Something that will derail him... Anything!' She frantically thought. 'Maybe...'

"Look, there's something I wanted to tell you. I didn't come down here to see Link or anything, I came down so you could hear my news without being coped up in our house, okay?" Groose looked up hopefully. She could see that he didn't believe her yet, but wanted to: he really did love her.

"What? What's your news?" He asked, hope dripping from every word.

She breathed in slowly. "I'm pregnant." She said simply.

Groose's eyes widened, and his eyebrows shot up. All talk of cheating vanished from the air. "Are you serious!" He asked, and drew himself up.

"Yeah. We're finally going to have a kid!" She said. Groose shot up, and pulled Zelda with him. He whirled her around the trees, dansing her around each trunk, laughing in joy.

'If only you knew...' Thought Zelda. She allowed herself to be caught up in the moment, and went along with his danse. Eventually, they stopped, and Groose drew her closer to him.

"A kid? Finally... We've waited to long..." He leaned in to kiss her.

"Zel?" Came a voice from the pathway. Groose solidified, and his happy smile disappeared, leaving an emotionless pallet.

"Goddess save me..." He muttered, before letting go of Zelda, and walking back to their picnic basket. Zelda herself looked round, to see who was calling to her. As if she already didn't know from her husband's reaction.

She spotted her lover's hair from over the bushes. She ran towards him (althought not to fast, if Groose got suspiscious again), and hugged him.

"Missed you." She whispered in his ear.

"Missed you too." He replied. He stole a quick kiss, shielding it behind a tree so Groose wouldn't see.

"Why are you here?" He asked, straight to business. He could tell she didn't have much time, and forced her good news out faster than she wanted it to be.

"I'm pregnant." She told him, like she had told Groose. He didn't react in _exactly_ the same way, however.

He froze completly, and his eyes glassed over. "Pregnant? Are you serious?" He choked, and drew back from her.

"Yes, Link. What's wrong, do you need some water or something?" She asked, concerned for him.

"What's wrong? What's wrong! What's wrong is that your pregnant!" He shouted.

"Shhhh! Keep it down! I don't want Groose to hear!" She told him, and peered behind her. Groose was packing up the picnic, seemingly oblivious to his shout.

"Yeah, sorry... But how can you be calm about this? Is it..." He paused again. "Is it ours?" He asked, hesitantly.

"I think so..." She replied. "I tried a hundred times with Groose and it never worked, but the one time we are together, I get seeded. It's not as bad as your making it..." She frowned, and held his arm, trying to calm him down.

"Have you told Groose it isn't his?" He asked, now peering to look at him himself. Zelda shook her head.

"No, I just told him it's his." Link nodded his approval. "It's fine, Link. No one knows we slept together, no one will find out. I just thought you should know. Okay?"

Link returned more or less back to normal. His breathing turned more regular, and he pushed himself away from the tree.

"Okay. I guess it's fine. It's just... It's annoying, you know? To have a child but to not be able to raise it, to have it as my own. Bit of a burn, really..." He trailed off, and Zelda took his arm again.

"I know. I would feel annoyed to. But it's for the best." Link nodded again. "Perhaps you should go, too. Groose was getting annoyed about me wanting to see you. It wouldn't do any good to hang around, you know?" He nodded again, and with a peck on the lips, he disapeared back into the undergrowth. She watched him go with a smile on her face, but fear in her heart. He had just warned her to be very careful. She had to be, not only to protect his honour, but also her virtue.

She walked silently back to Groose. When she reached him, he stood up, basket in hand. "Where did Link go?" He asked, confusion on his face.

"He went back to camp." An idea sprung to her: Groose was annoyed at Link, so if she could act a little bit better... She tried to make a few tears come to her eyes.

"He said some things that were... Mean..." She sniffed, and Groose moved in to hug her. She buried her face in his chest, and sighed. She really didn't want to lead him on, but sometimes it was the only way.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked.

"No... Let's just go." She replied. She tried to make it look as if she were holding back tears as they walked hand in hand, back to the town.

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**Okay, so this is probably going to be the last fluffly chapter. Half of the next chapter might be akin to it as well, but it is just nessesary to my story plot. I promice someone will fight in the next chapter. C'yall!**


	17. Exhaustion

"Where is he? He said he would be here! Today of all days!" Screamed Zelda.

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Link raced along the forest path, sprinting at full pace. 'Why did they attack today? Why today!'

He had his sword in one hand, and heavy shield in the other. They weighed him down, but he knew he needed them if any monsters decided to grab him.

Speaking of which, two monsters stumbled out of the woods in front of him, and raised their axes. Link growled, and set upon them both.

The first blow he swung missed, and sailed over the monsters head as he ducked to avoid it. The second monster circled around Link, so he had to defend both sides of himself. Link jumped, backwards, and made to attack the monster behind him before spinning around and cleaving at the first again, catching him off guard. His axe was hit out of his hand, leaving him defenceless, and Link took advantage of this. He lunged, plunging his sword into the creature's soft hide.

Link turned back to his second foe, who seemed frightened at the loss of his companion. Link lay upon him too, cutting at him everywhere. Somehow, the Boblokin managed to deflect all his blows, but was nowhere near agile enough to swing at Link. Eventually, the flurry of attacks backed the monster up to a small, but deep, pool of water. He wobbled on the edge, but didn't fall in. Link rammed him, and with a grunt, managed to push him into the glistening pool. The monsters armour weighed him down, and he sank below the top, gasping for breath. Link nodded, then continued on his way.

Another, bigger monster jumped out in front of him. Instead of slowing down and fighting the monster, Link dropped to the ground, and slid on his shield. He slipped underneath the monster, and kicked out at the goblins feet as he passed, making the goblin stumbled and fall over. Link rolled to his feet, and ran off, not bothering to finish his enemy.

Link was bloody and weary by the time he fell upon his last opponent. He was hammering on the gates of the town, fruitlessly banging against the thick oak. When he heard Link approach, the large Boblokin turned around, and Link recognised him from before. It was the huge monster he had fallen against before, who had put him out for over a week. Maybe he should thank the monster for that week...

The monster didn't give him any time think, however, and fell upon him with a huge hammer of some kind: a simple wooden stick, with a sharp stone head. Tied together with some kind of rope, it was very crude, but effective. His first blow flew towards Link's head, but he parried the blow with his shield, and knocked the weapon aside, leaving the creatures side exposed. Link greedily sliced at him, and caught the monster off guard, breaking the skin but not landing a worthwhile blow. Link cussed, and backed away.

The monster didn't seem to register the pain, but instead screamed in anger. The monstrous Boblokin launched a flurry of attacks, all at different parts of Link: his head, his legs, his chest. Link managed to deflect most blows, and eventually they were circling each other.

The monster then, instead of cleaving with his axe, drove his weapon straight forward, and hit Link straight in the chest. It winded him, and forced him down to the ground. The monster cackled in delight, and lifted his axe in the air, to smash down onto Link. The mace fell towards his back, but collided with the floor, Link rolling sideways at the last second.

Link stumbled to his feet, seemingly heavily winded but still fighting. He swung a couple of weak blows, but the monster easily dodged. He was enjoying this, having finally hurt Link. He jumped from side to side, feigning to try and find Link's weaknesses. Eventually, he stepped to one side, and brought his axe round in a deadly ark, aiming for Link's head. Link crouched, and the blow missed him by mere millimetres. The monster's thick hide was once again exposed to him, and Link decided to make this one count. He savagely swiped at the monsters leg, cutting through muscle and glancing bone. The monster cried out in pain, and backed away, hobbling on its half crippled leg. It was then that someone from the gate saw him.

"Link? Is that you?" Shouted a voice. Link looked up and saw a gleaming helm peering over the edge.

"I'll throw down a rope, hang on!" Shouted the figure.

Link nodded to him, and turned back to the monster. He seemed weaker now, and was not in a state to fight. Link could finish him off, but he needed to get to Skyloft, quickly too. When the rope sailed down, Link shoved his nemesis into the dirt with his shield, and shimmied up the rope.

"Link!" The man greeted him as he reached the top. "Are you okay? Link?" He wasn't given an answer, and instead talked to the empty air, as Link was sprinting down the ramp and towards the town, where he could sail up to Skyloft again.

Without missing a beat, Link whipped out his sailcloth and whizzed into the air for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He whilsted, and landed lightly on his loftwing. Although they hadn't seen each other in a long while, there was no time to show affection. Link kicked his steed into life, and flew straight towards the waterfall. When he was above it, he threw himself off, not caring for his own safety.

He hit the ground with a thud, but sprang to his feet with a jump, and ran towards Zelda's house. He was fatigued from the huge distance he had ran, but still managed to bash open the door with his shoulder.

What was before him was both a terrible and beautiful sight. Zelda was lying down on a table, with her head tilted back, herself screaming in agony. Groose held her hand, with a worried and bedraggled look on his face. What was happening on the other end of the table was a different matter entirely. A portly woman was doing... Something to Zelda, and the rest was shielded from Link's view by a plastic sheet. Not that he particularly wanted to see what was happening.

He rushed in and held Zelda's other hand, out of instinct. He worriedly looked at her face, her expression of agony. It softened slightly when Link came into focus for her.

"Link..." She whispered. Her voice sounded broken, like it had been screaming for many hours. She laughed lightly, and it was like music compared to what he was just hearing.

But she soon erupted into a massive scream, pushing her head back and howling like a wolf. Link pulled her hand to his mouth, and kissed it, attracting a weird look from Groose, but Link really didn't care. He only cared about Zelda.

"And we are done." Announced the woman at the lower end of Zelda. The girl herself stopped screaming, and went into a seemingly induced haze of happiness.

The woman lifted a small bundle of rags, with a little pink face pointing out of it. Link leant on the table, finally being given a chance to rest. Zelda coo'ed over the little rags, but it was Link, not Groose, who she turned to.

"It's going to be called-

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**Some say I stop there to build dramatic tension. Some say I stop there to lure you into reading the next paragraph. But the reality is I have no fucking clue what to name the baby. Tell me if you have any suggestions, or if you want it to be a girl or a boy. Cause I sure as hell don't know. Also, what would you guys prefer, a comedic chapter, or a serious, dramatic chapter. As this is my first story, I'm cramming literally everything I can think of in, and I'm sticking with what comes out best. Oh, and it turns out my Blackberry does have a spell check. Derp. Au revoir!**


	18. Fly Before You Can Run

**I would like to thank the many dozens of people that answered my previous questions, and all the ideas you have given me.**

**Wait...**

**No, I'm sorry, two people reviewed. Am I really expected to just call it Hayley now?**

**Anyway, rant over. Thank you MyPie, but I might not use yours for Link's baby. Maybe another... Or maybe I might, I'm very indecisive.**

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"Come on!" Shouted Link, beckoning at a girl in front of him. She was about half his height, and she ran over to him, hugging his legs. Her beautiful blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight, and had rippled whenever she moved.

"I want to go up top!" She cried happily. Link chuckled, and swung her onto his shoulders. The girl laughed too, and pulled his hair slightly.

"Come on now. It's your big day!" Link carried her over to the plaza, where lots of other parents and children were also gathered.

"Oh... I forgot about the ceremony..." She sighed, and Link bounced her on his shoulders.

"Oh, there's no reason to be sad! Just go out there, and a bird will come for you. You want your own loftwing, don't you?" Link asked. The girl nodded her head in response, and Link placed her down on the floor in front of him.

"Uncle, I'm scared..." She confessed. She had taken to calling him uncle, as she saw so much of him every day.

He got down on one knee and looked her in the eye. "There really is nothing to be scared of. A bird will come for you. Maybe it will even be crimson!" He smiled, and the girl smiled back at him. "Go on then. Me and your parents will be watching. Make us proud." He tussled her hair, and she went to go the other kids, all standing in a line in front of the old, and weary, headmaster Gaepora.

Link spotted Zelda and Groose by the side of the ring of parents, who were surrounding the gathering of children. He went over to tell them that their little girl was safely back.

Zelda spotted him first, however, and called out his name. "Link, get over here!" She shouted, almost angrily. He went over to see what the fuss was about.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Zelda replied with a haughty look on her face.

"Where were you and Impa?" She asked, hands on her hips. She had named her girl after her greatest helper, beside Link that is. But she couldn't call a girl Link, could she?

"Oh, your always so stressed about her! She's never in any danger!" He replied diligently, shaking his head. "When have I ever brought her back hurt?"

Zelda pouted her lips, and Link waved his hands in the air. "You can't count that first time! She fell over, and I have to be holding her up to?" She sighed, and turned back to Groose.

"Sugar, can you go and make sure everything is set up for the celebration? I wouldn't want to miss this for the world." Groose nodded, and walked off in the direction of some tables and chairs.

Link moved in closer, now that her husband had gone. "Anyway, you know I wouldn't hurt my own daughter..." He didn't dare go in for a kiss in broad daylight, so instead drew back.

Zelda hushed him, and put a finger to his lips. "Don't be so loud! Someone could hear..." She eyed some of the other parents suspiciously, then turned back to Link. "Fine, I guess she isn't in danger. Just try not to be careless with her. Okay?" Link just nodded, and the pair linked arms to watch this years ceremony.

"Girl and boys, parents and friends, gathered here today, we are here to witness... The ceremony!" Zelda's father shouted in his loud, booming voice.

"I think we have all been waiting for this day! Especially our younger members!" The little children pushed each other, all wanting to be in front. All except Impa, who was hanging around at the back.

"Impa!" Shouted Geapora. The girl froze. "Niece, why don't you go first?"

All the other children sighed in disappointment, but Impa slowly walked towards the edge of the island. Shaking minutely, she put her forefinger and thumb in her mouth, and blew. No-one heard a whistle, and she put her hand to her mouth again for a second time.

After a couple of failed attempts, Link called out to her from the audience. He demonstrated whilsting, and she started to smile. She turned back to the edge and whilsted a high pitched whine, like Link had taught her to do.

She waited for a while, and no bird came. She let out another, stronger whilst, but still no bird.

Impa looked worriedly back to Link. He just smiled, and nodded his head forward. She looked back to see a small purple-ish dot on the horizon. She smiled deeply, all worry seemingly gone from her. She ran up to the edge, like she had practised with Link, but this time it would be a purple loftwing catching her, not a crimson one.

She fell, appreciating the cool wind on her skin. Eventually, a sweeping bird plucked out of the air, and she flew high into the sky. Now she was closer, she could see it was a different, redish purple. But she didn't really care, and was focusing on the joy of flying on her own for the first time.

After a few lazy loop-a-loops, she touched down with her loftwing on the surface of the island, facing the headmaster of the academy. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and laughed deeply. "A fine bird. A rare spectacle, to see one of such a unique colour... Not as rare as your uncle's crimson loftwing, yes, but there is certainly something different about it." He nudged her towards the small crowd that had gathered, and ultimately towards her mother.

Zelda came out of the audience, with Link not far behind. Whilst Zelda knelt to congratulate her daughter, Link sauntered over to the purple-red bird. He stroked its feathers and looked at his features, with a questioning look on his face.

"Honey, you did it perfectly! Where did you learn to whistle like that?" Zelda asked, excited.

"Link taught me how!" She replied, currently being the happiest child on Skyloft. She was bouncing up and down, and was grinning ear to ear.

Link walked back to them and smiled. "I sure did. Do you want to fly again?" He asked.

"Yes yes yes yes!" She exclaimed. Link laughed again, and nodded his head to the edge. The young girl ran to it, and threw herself off without any real grace. After all, there would always be someone there to catch her. Speaking of which, the loftwing also dived off the edge, and soon the pair were a figure on the horizon.

Link turned to Zelda after the spectacle had been witnessed. "You know the funny thing?" He asked her.

"Huh? What funny thing?" She replied, expecting Link to come out with some statement about his daughter.

"It's just her bird... It's got the features of mine, like it's beak and feathers, and it's slight red tinge, but the colour and features of yours, like it's shape and wing size." He explained, and Zelda soon had a thoughtful look on her face.

"You mean that her bird is the baby of our bird?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it could be. Or just a coincidence." He shrugged. "But yeah, maybe there is something between our birds. Maybe it's a sign..." He looked down at her, ans she blushed.

"Link, how many times? Groose! Now shush, okay?" She replied, annoyed that he would bring it up again.

"Fine..." He sighed. "Want to take Impa to the Lumpy Pumpkin? Have a nice dinner? With Groose, not me. I can't act as a father to her as well..."

Zelda chuckled. "She already looks up to you like one. I guess that isn't good... If she starts calling you dad, people might get suspicious." She looked at Link meaningfully. "Yeah, I'll go with Groose. But first..." Zelda pulled him by his hand and dragged him behind a house.

"Wha-" He was cut off by Zelda kissing him. He sank into her, but she soon pulled away.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his mouth, grinning. "I thought we said we weren't going to do that any more."

Zelda smiled at him, and looked down at the ground. "I just wanted to say... Thanks. Groose wasn't much of a father figure, and the way you acted today... Hell, Groose didn't even watch the ceremony, for all he cares. Just... Thank you Link." He smiled at the compliment, and moved in to kiss her again. She smiled, and went to him too.

"Mom?" Said a familiar voice. Zelda sighed, but still had a smile on her face when she turned around.

"Hey sweetling. Do you want to go to the Lumpy Pumpkin? As a celebration?" She asked her child.

"Yes yes! Will Link come to?" She asked. Zelda looked apologetically to Link.

"Do you want to? I suppose I don't _have_ to take Groose."

Link smiled back at her. "I'd be happy to. Let's go." And with that, Link joined hands with Impa, and walked off, Zelda holding Impa's other hand.

"Hey, are you still the commander of the forces, down on the surface?" Asked Zelda.

"Oh yeah, I am. But I talked to your father about that... Oh, don't worry. I'll save the surprise till later." Zelda looked over at Link, but he didn't let up. She sighed.

"Do you know what you want to do, Impa?" Asked Zelda.

"I want to be a knight! Like Link!" She said, almost instantly. Zelda laughed.

"Really?" Asked Link. "You can be like Karane. She's a knight, you know."

"I don't want to be like her! Like Link!" Replied Impa. Link chucked this time, and swung her hand. "I'm sure that is possible. You'll just have to save your mother from a series of dangerous and deadly monsters."

"Huh?" Asked Impa, simply.

"Oh, she never told you?" Replied Link. "Well, it all started off the day I became a knight..."

Link told his story to his child, and they walked off to the Lumpy Pumpkin, casually holding hands.

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**The first line the girl says... Is there any way to make that not dirty? "I want to go on you." "I want to ride you." No, there isn't. Damn! **

**Oh, and the name comes from one of your reviews. **


	19. Ewwwwwww

"But mom! I don't need babysitting any more!" Complained Impa, in her high pitched voice. "I'm not a child anymore. Stop treating me like one!" Shouted the 16 year old girl.

"Until you start behaving like one, you'll be treated like one." Said Groose calmly, who was putting on a scarf. "Me and your mother are going out for our anniversary. Are you really going to deny us that?"

"No! I'm not saying that. It's just I can be left alone now. I don't need one of your friends watching over me!" She argued, but she knew it was futile.

"Oh, you haven't even asked who is coming. That will stop your complaining." Zelda replied.

"Well? Who is coming? Not Fledge again? He was annoying. Or that person who lectured me on bugs the whole time." She sighed, remembering all the times that her parents had tried to pawn her off on some stranger to get some peace and quiet.

"It's Link." Impa immediately straightened up, and a hint of a smile played on her lips. Zelda laughed.

"I told you. It's not so bad now, right?" Asked Zelda.

"I guess so... But I'm still not happy about this babysitting thing." She warned Zelda. She smiled in response, and walked out the door, closely followed by Groose.

'Huh... I hardly seen anything of Link nowadays... Especially after he became the headmaster of the academy...' She remembered the day when Gaepora had stepped down as headmaster, for a well over due retirement, and Link valiantly taking his place. She had both simultaneously loved him and hated him that day, as he had to punish her for causing mischief that day.

She reflected on her decision to become a knight. It was simple and straightforward work, and all you really did was save children from falling over the edge, or get cats from the tops of buildings. She would have preferred something more exciting, but she really did want to be like her favourite uncle.

Speaking of which, a knock came at the door, and she went over to open it. Link stood in his headmaster's clothes, and Impa couldn't help but hug him.

"Ha! Steady on girl!" Shouted Link, as he was almost bowled over into the dirt behind him.

Impa drew away, and backed into her house. "I just haven't seen you in so long... Where have you been?" She asked, leading him to the sofa.

"Oh, down on the surface again. Things have quietened down, but I still like to go down there and check now and then." He relied. "But what about you? We haven't chatted in ages..."

"Well, you know Karane's daughter?" Asked Impa.

"Yeah? She called... Stephanie, right?" Impa nodded.

"So Steph said she wanted to become a knight too. I was wondering what you thought." She asked.

"Well... Steph? We have never had more than one girl at the academy before... Apart from Zelda and Karane, but Zelda wasn't training to be a knight like us. I don't know, I'll think about it." He eventually replied. "Why did you want to become a knight anyway?" He asked.

"Because you were one." She replied speedily, and Link chuckled.

"Ha... I love that about you. But I'm not the one you should be idealising. Look at your mother. Half goddess and half parent."

"And look where it got her. Married to an idiot... You know, if she really is the goddess, why can't she just ignore Groose and make him disappear? She should have married you..." Impa whined. "I could have dealt with you as a father."

"You know, I did want to marry her." Replied Link. Impa looked up into his eyes.

"Really? What was she like back then?" She asked.

"She was like you. Mischievous, funny, beautiful. The same golden hair too." He ran his fingers through her long blonde hair, and she smiled.

"What else?" He asked himself. "She liked to annoy me, a lot... One time, she got her loftwing to poke its head through my window and squawk at me." He made Impa laugh, and smiled.

"So am I like her when she was young?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. But you're prettier." She smiled at the compliment, and went on.

"And... You loved her because of this?" She asked, timidly. Link looked at her, and she was blushing.

"Yeah. I did." He looked at her questioningly again. "Why?"

He was cut off by Impa pressing her lips to his. His eyes shot wide open, and he was so in shock that he couldn't move. She moved her lips against his cold, stony ones, until she noticed his lack of movement. She pulled away, with a fearful look on her face.

"Uhhh... Link?" He looked right through her for a while, making her more and more uncomfortable.

"Link? I'm sorry..." She said. He slowly turned his head to look at her, and then-

"Ew!" He shouted, and stood up hurriedly. She looked hurt, like he was insulting her personally.

"Ew? Was it that bad?" She asked, downcast.

"I don't know. I froze. But it doesn't matter, because that is never happening again." He replied, and walked over to the other side of the room.

"What's wrong? You said you loved mum, and you said I was just like her!" She complained, hurt.

"It's not that I don't love you, it's just... Just..." Link sighed. "Fine. You had to know eventually." He sat down next to her again, and looked at her eyes.

"You know how me and your mother were very close before?" He asked her, and she nodded in response. "Well, one day, we were a bit more than just 'close'..." He looked at her meaningfully, and she gasped.

"You mean you and mum... But what did that have to do with me?" She asked, astounded.

"Well, we slept together exactly nine months before you were born. I'm your father." She copied Link, completely freezing and making Link worried.

"Impa?" He asked, clearly worried. Instead of screaming out, however, Impa laughed in joy, and threw herself at Link, hugging him. Link laughed too, and soon she was snuggled against his chest.

"I can't believe you're my dad!" She was crying, not in pain or in sadness, but in joy, feeling so happy about this turn of events.

"Yeah." Laughed Link. "I couldn't believe it myself, when Zelda told me." Impa sat up, still leaning against him.

"Does Groose know?" She asked. "I would really like to push this in his face..."

Link shook his head. "No, he doesn't, and we want to keep it that way. And thinking of that, you shouldn't tell your mother either. She'll get angry with me." They both grinned, and shared another hug.

She zipped her lips. "I promise to tell no one. But if your my father... Does that mean you'll treat me nicer at the academy?" She asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

Link laughed, and shook his head. "Speaking of the academy... Didn't I set you some work? You should get on with it. I wouldn't want Zel to think we've been slacking." She sighed, and went over to the table in the room.

"You're a lot nicer about work when your my father." She sighed again.

"Would you rather I be your headmaster? I set that work 5 days ago..." He smiled again, and ruffled her hair as she sat down at the table.

"Tell you what. We'll go down to the surface soon. Just you and me." Her face lit up, and she hugged him again.

"Ha... I love making you happy. You hug me more when you're happy." Impa chuckled, and got on with her work. Eventually, Link went back to the sofa, and laid down on it. She turned around when she couldn't hold in her questions any longer.

"Did you really mean that? About going down to the surface?" Link remembered that Impa had never been down to the surface, and it would be totally new to her.

"Yup. If you can bear to stand me..." He joked. "We can go to the temple or anything. Show you where I first met the woman you were named after."

"Could we go... Tomorrow?" She asked, nervously.

Link looked over at her, surprised. "Yeah, we can. I'll get permission from your mother first. She would never forgive me if I just stole away with you."

"Awesome..." She replied. "I love you." She said, and Link smiled.

"Love you too." He got up and kissed her on the cheek. "That's the kind of kiss I'll expect now, okay?" She blushed, and nodded.

They heard a knock at the door, and Link went and opened it. Zelda strode in briefly.

"How've you been?" Link asked, happy to see his friend.

"Fine. How about you." She asked, briskly.

"Oh, fine. We just were talking." He eyed his daughter thoughtfully. "I was wondering... Could I take Impa down to the surface?"

Zelda looked at him, annoyed. "Why? She'll get hurt. No." Impa deflated, and slumped her shoulders, defeated.

Link, however, snapped back. "She'll be going with me, Zel. I don't know if you noticed, but I did defeat a demon lord and his cronies several hundred times..." He pointedly showed her his sword belt, which he had slung around his shoulders. "She won't be in danger." Impa looked over hopefully.

"She has work to do. She can't, okay?" Replied Zelda, who was looking for something under a table.

"Arn't you forgetting something? I am the headmaster, and she is my student. She doesn't have to work if I say so." He said, pointedly. "You're no fun anymore Zel..."

Zelda got annoyed at him for this last sentence. "I am fun... Just I'm busy. And she is spending tomorrow with her father. Case closed."

"Oh, is that a yes then?" Asked Impa. Zelda glared at Link, and Impa let out a little, "Opps..."

"Link! Did you tell her?" Complained Zelda, loudly. Link waved his hands in front of his face, and started to make excuses.

"She had to know some day! I was getting tired of keeping it a secret anyway! And it is nice to have a daughter who loves you... You know that, you've had one of those for longer than I have."

Zelda sighed. "Well... I guess she can go to the surface. But if you bring her back hurt..." She pointed at Link, who backed away a little. "Don't bring her back hurt. I've got to go. See you later." She was about to walk past Link, but then shrugged, remembering her daughter now knew about them. She kissed Link roughly and quickly, and then walked out the door.

"You're still..." The implied question hung in the air, and Link shook his head.

"We don't do anything like that. But we still love each other. Not that you could tell..." He smiled, and slid in next to Impa on the sofa, like before.

"Turns out it's a date then." He hugged Impa close, and after a long conversation about their future lives, she fell asleep in his arms. Link stroked her hair, and slipped into a deep sleep himself.

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**What do you guys think about breaking the fourth wall? I was wondering to do it a few times in the last part, but I didn't really know if it would be appreciated...**

**Hasta luego!**


	20. Captured

Impa was packing her things in her room, sorting through things and throwing pieces of clothing behind her. She rummaged through her drawers, and the chest next to her bed. Eventually, she found a knapsack, and clipped it to her belt.

'Right...' She thought to herself. 'What will I need...' She walked over to her bed and picked up a few things that she had already picked out: a scarf, a couple of sealed bags with food in, and her notebook. She liked to draw, and figured that the surface would give her lots of inspiration.

As an after thought, she picked up her sword belt she owned from being a knight student. Link had given it to her when she first joined, and she had treasured it ever since.

Making her way downstairs, she ran into her mother. Impa mumbled to her, and tried to walk past, but Zelda caught her arm.

"Impa?" She asked. "You're going down to the surface now?" Impa nodded.

"I'm going to go and try and find Link. He said that we would go around now, so I thought we should get going." Zelda nodded.

"Just be careful. It's relatively calm now, but there are still dangers. Just make sure Link doesn't drag you into anything. Okay?" Impa nodded, and then walked off, Zelda looking worried behind her.

She ran into Link near the academy, who was carrying a wrapped sword and his own supplies.

"Link! Can we go?" She asked immediately, making him laugh.

"Calm down, Impa. First, I've got a gift for you." He unwrapped the sword he held, and held it out to her.

"Huh?" She asked, surprised. "I thought I wasn't allowed a sword..." She secretly was filled with glee, as she had always secretly hoped that she would get a sword.

"I am the headmaster, aren't I? I think I'm allowed to change the rules." He smiled ruefully. "Here." He passed her the sword. "You'll need a sheath as well... How about the one that I gave you..." Link spotted that she had one on already. "You seem well prepared..."

She looked away. "I just like to wear it... Shall we go?" She asked, trying to divert his attention. She sheathed the sword, and pulled him by the hand over to the edge of the island.

"Sure. Let's go." Link jumped skillfully over the edge, and Impa followed close behind. They flew into the rising sun, and made their way to Faron Woods.

Eventually, after a fairly short trip, they touched down in the grassy town. All loftwings were not afraid of the cloud layer now, and since Impa's was born after the fear dissipated, it had no idea why the cloud layer could be perceived as bad.

Impa looked around her, half in shock and half in wonder. Link let her gasp and stare for a full minute, before asking, "Do you want to explore, or just look at the tree for the day?" She glared at him, but not for long, as she went into the brush to run her fingers through the thick grass, and explore this new world. Link accompanied her, slowly walking beside her.

"Do you want to see the people who inhabit the forest?" He asked, after he had to disentangle her from a vine that she had got wrapped around herself. She nodded enthusiastically, and he lead her towards a small clearing. It had a majestic giant standing there, who looked alien to her. Link, however, was quite calm, and introduced the pair.

"Elder, it's nice to see you again. This is my dau- friend, Impa. She wanted to come and see the surface. Impa, this is the Elder." She curtised toward the Elder, and he wobbled about, which was what she assumed was some kind of bow.

"It is nice to see a friendly face again!" Boomed the creature. "We extend our hospitality to you!" He turned abruptly, and walked off in the other direction.

"That's rude..." She muttered. Link nodded, agreeing with her.

"They are very... Strange, to say the least. But they are friendly, so I don't really care." He faced Impa, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Now, two options. We can either go to the town, or you can walk around and sketch whilst I go into town myself. I won't be long. Do you want to stay here?" He asked.

"If you don't mind... I rather like it here." She took out her notepad, and started to draw wispy lines on it. Link nodded, and made his way back towards the town.

"I'll be back soon!" He shouted, before disappearing round a corner.

Impa sat down against a tree, and concentrated on drawing her surroundings. The creatures had disappeared, and she was left on her own. After a few minutes peacefully drawing, however, she heard a twig cracking behind her. She twitched her head, and loosened her sword. Putting her notebook down, she jumped up, sword in hand, ready to face her stalker.

"Kwee!" Shouted a creature. He ran off, and Impa was left threatening empty air. Shaking her head in despair, she sat down again, and started making a start on one of the trees.

Another few minutes passed, and another twig snapped behind her. Not bothering to put her notebook down, she spoke out loudly: "If it is one of you creatures again, then I-"

(((((((())))))))

Link was returning from his town visit. He walked slowly, not bothering to rush. He knew his daughter would like some alone time, and the peace and serenity which she was in would only be disturbed by himself.

He reached the clearing where he had left her, however, but she was no where to be seen. "Impa?" He called out, his voice slightly echoing against the dirt walls. "Impa?" He ran through some of the trees, and his heart slightly quickened it's pace. 'If she is hurt... Zel is going to kill me...'

Eventually, he found an object on the floor, lying there, half obscured by some bushes, was a sword. The sword he had given her. 'What's happened!' His heart picked up the pace, and his breathing intensified.

Underneath the sword, however, was the answer. It was her notebook, with a half drawn tree and a word loosely scribbled. It read: 'heLp'.

'Fuck.'

Link was soon running for the town, jumping on ropes, and swinging as fast as he could. He got to the barracks there, and found Kale, eating heartily with friends.

"Link! How've you be-" He was cut off by Link pulling him out the door.

"Link? What the hell?" He complained.

"Where is the nearest Boblokin camp?" He asked, violently. "Where?"

"I don't know... Link, just calm down, okay?" Kale protested.

Link's fuse ran out, and he punched Kale straight in the face. "Where is the damn camp, Kale?" He asked, brutally.

Kale cried out in pain. "North of here! What the fuck has gotten into you Link?" He was pulled up by Link, and pushed inside the barracks again.

"Kit up. We are going to save my daughter." Kale ran inside, not comprehending the words he heard. In one minute, he was out, armoured and shield in hand, with his sword belt on. Link ran towards the gate, with Kale in pursuit.

"Link? Your daughter?" He asked, breathing heavily, blood trickling from his nose.

"No time to explain. Come on!" The pair ran out the village, and through the main gates, out into the wilderness beyond.

(((((((())))))))

Kale approached the camp stealthily, sneaking up on the gate.

"So is this their campsite?" Link asked, who was lying next to him.

"Yes. It's where she will most likely be. Now, on my signal, we will..." He trailed off, as Link had jumped up, running into the camp, sword in hand.

"Goddess sake, Link..." He muttered, before following him inside.

The camp was full of Boblokins, sitting in circles, cooking, sleeping, talking. They all seemed surprised at these two figures who had stumbled into their home. A few licked their lips, grinning. Their pleasure quickly dispelled when they saw the look in Link's eye, however. 'Do not cross me.' It said. 'Or you will die today.'

Link banged a crate with his sword, and shouted, "Where's my daughter? Well?" On getting no response, he kicked the barrel over, apples spilling from the top.

"We are outnumbered Link. What are you doing?" Warned Kale, to no effect.

"Where is she? Am I going to have to kill all of you to find out." He shouted. He advanced on one group, who cowered back in fear. Behind him, a clanging was sounded.

When he turned around, he saw a heavily armoured Boblokin, carrying a large, squirming sack. It dropped it on the floor, and it cried out in muffled pain.

"You bastard..." He shouted, as if he was cursing the monster. "Who are you? Show me your face!" The creature lifted it's helm, and Link recognised the scared, battle hungry features.

"You again..." It was the Boblokin he had fought two times, who had almost slain him in combat. "Good. If someone has to die over this, it should be you." The monster made a cackling sound, like it was laughing. It kicked the sack, causing it to convulse in pain.

He didn't have time to laugh again. Link's sword crashed into him, hammering the side of his plate metal. He stumbled, and was driven back. He raised his weapon, and brandished it threateningly. The pair circled each other, and both hissed at each other, like nemesis'. It promised to be an interesting fight.


	21. Finale

In a flurry of blades, the pair met again. The monster wielded a large two handed axe, like the last time they fought, but was now clad in steel and leather, apart from his head. Link carried a long sword, but only had a simple wooden shield. The first strikes were light, testing their opponents strength. They parried and thrust, trying to catch the other off guard.

Link sliced at his nemesis, trying to cut through steel. The sword nicked at the plate metal, and the goblin just laughed. He swung his axe in a deadly arc, which Link dodged, the axe making a dent in the cold earth.

Again, cleaving at the human, Link dodged out of the way, barely missing the sharp rock blade. The edge clipped his shoulder, and spun Link around, leaving a wound in his upper arm. Link cussed, and circled the monster.

The entire camp stood stock still, apart from the squirming sack on the floor. Kale moved over to it, and drew his sword, not daring to enter the fight, but threatening any Boblokin that dared to touch the girl.

The pair met again, and the clash of steel on rock was echoing across the camp, thundering over the trees. Link dodged and weaved, whilst the monster chopped at Link's head, hopping to sever it quickly.

The monster swung again, but was slowly getting tired. Link could see this, and eventually, after a drawn out fight, a slow, clumsy blow came at him, aiming for his leg. Instead of dodging, he blocked with the sharp side of his sword, and the bindings holding rock to wood came loose, the stone toppling out of the rope and landing loudly on the ground. The Boblokin, filled with fear at having lost his weapon, swung with new strength at Link's head, using just the wooden staff.

The weapon was lighter, and was therefore harder to dodge. The monster cleaved at him, and caught an un ready Link in the side, toppling him onto the floor. The monster screamed in triumph, and brought the staff down on Link. Just in time, he brought up his shield, and deflected the blow. Instead of retreating, the monster swung again and again, pounding Link into the dirt. Eventually, a wearied Link dropped his broken shield, threw away his sword, and looked the monster square in the eye as it loomed over him, the sharpened point of the staff pointing towards his chest.

"This is how it ends, then? Fine. Make it quick!" Link shouted. His vision was blurred after the brutal beating he had taken, and he could barely make out the monster towering over him. It stepped to one side, and Link braced himself for a painful end. Opening his eyes wide, he saw it raise the staff, cackle loudly, and grow a two foot long, glistening, red, pointed tongue. He closed his eyes, and heard the monster collapse to the floor beside him, dead. He allowed himself to be pulled up, but slowly drifted into a well overdue sleep.

(((((((())))))))

What was happening! She was hearing sword play, grunting, the sound of steel on flesh. What was going to happen to her... She had heard rumours of what monsters did to little girls...

Would someone please let her out of this damn bag!

As if her wish was being answered, the top of the bag was cut loose, and she was roughly pulled out. She cowered in fear, expecting to be violated by her captors, the evil Boblokins which she had only heard about from her uncle. But instead there was a man she only vaguely remembered, but could guess at his name: Kale.

He pulled her into a tight hug, still holding a bloodied long sword. Impa started to cry, letting out the stress of her situation. She had finally been saved!

She pulled away, and asked, "Wh-where's L-L-Link?" Kale nodded his head to a bent figure on the ground. At first, she thought he was dead, but saw his chest rising and falling slowly. She rushed over to him, and knelt by his side.

"Link? Are you okay?" She asked a sleepy Link. To the side of him was a huge, dead Boblokin, which had a sword wound in his neck. She shook Link, who grogilly opened his eyes.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He said weakly. She clutched him to her chest, and kissed his cheek. She didn't care that Kale was there: Link had saved her from Boblokins, and nothing could derail her from this moment. Eventually, Kale coughed meaningfully, gesturing to the angry Boblokin crowd circling them.

"Can you walk?" Impa asked, and Link nodded his head slowly. She helped him up, and they started to walk towards the exit, Kale helping her, so they had a hobbling Link between them.

"That went... Well..." Grunted Kale. They made their way to the exit, and Impa looked over to him.

"I'm just glad it's over. I'm never coming down here again..." She remembered how she had been bursting with excitement to go to the surface, now she would do anything to go back up.

Kale and Impa shared a smile for a brief second. Their eyes locked, and they both were happy that the trouble was behind them. Little did they know how literal that was.

Before they could react, Link was shoved forward, a thick blade shoved into his back. Kale roared in rage, and spun towards the attacker, sword in hand.

Impa was frozen in shock. She knelt down to his body, and shook Link again.

"No! Link!" She shouted. "Link, get up!" She turned Link over, but to only show him grimacing in pain.

"Uncle! Don't go!" She shouted, as if she could somehow change that Link had a sword in his back. She stroked his face, and her tears dripped onto his chest. "Link!"

She was deaf to the rest of the world as Link passed his dying breath.

"Zelda..."

He died in her arms. She cried continuously, shaking a dead Link, clutching him to her chests. The sounds of the fallen sounded around them, as Kale flew into his fit of rage, until he too had fallen against immeasurable odds. She was dragged back into the camp by calloused hands, crying. She was violated, crying.

She was thrown from monster to monster, crying.

Link was dead.

(((((((())))))))

Impa slowly opened the door, still shaking in grief. She sat on the sofa, and waited for someone to come. She held back her tears, in a hope to stop becoming a wreak.

Eventually, Zelda came into the room behind her. She talked lightly, as if nothing was wrong.

"Oh. You're back. How was your trip?" She asked. When she got no answer, she tilted her head. "Where's Link?"

Impa burst into tears. Zelda immediately rushed over to her and held her, soothing her slowly.

"Impa, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Impa just cried, not even trying to answer, knowing that she wouldn't be able to.

"Goddess... I'm going to kill Link when I see him..." Muttered Zelda. This sparked off a new wave of sobs, and Zelda cottoned on.

"Did something happen to Li- him?" She asked. Impa managed to nod, and Zelda frowned in response.

"What happened? Impa?" Zelda was worried now, and Impa tried to mumble out some simple words.

"What?" Asked Zelda, after the fifth time. Impa tried simply to say on word, and she got it out.

"Dead."

Zelda's face went into shock. "Dead... He can't die... No... No!" She shouted. Tears came to her eyes too, and soon the pair were both crying.

Eventually, after an hour of sobbing, both had no tears left in their bodies. They sat there, sniffing, resting against each other. They slipped into sleep, having completely exhausted themselves.

(((((((())))))))

It was a cold, rainy day. The whole town had turned out. A large set of chairs was set out in front of two, rectangular holes, and the men and women slowly filled in, slipping into the chairs. Two solitary figures were seated at the front, dressed in sombre black.

A man in a white robe stepped up to a small platform. He said a few words, talking about how the pair were sword mates, how they lived and died together. His time was short lived, and eventually the teenager stepped up to the platform.

"The man that died was more than just one man. He was the headmaster, helping children overcome their fear. He was the first man onto the surface of the world. He was the best man.

"He saved my mother from death. He fought against huge odds, and came out on top. He tried to save me from being raped."

She looked up at the crowd.

"He was my father. He was the best." There was murmuring from the crowd, but they quickly stopped. They all respected Link, and wouldn't dare offend his spirit by talking about his bastard.

The pair of coffins were lowered into the holes. The man in white said a few more words. The men and women started to filter away, and eventually just Zelda and Impa were left, standing by the two, now filled, holes.

Zelda knelt, and placed a singular red rose on his grave. Impa did the same. Eventually, Impa left too, leaving a lifeless, pale Zelda.

A single tear came to her eye. She muttered, quietly, "If only... If only it wasn't Groose..."

(((((((())))))))

**I'm sorry for the relative lameness of this. I wrapped up the story prematurely, I'm sorry, but I've chosen to, instead of writing a fan fiction where I will get no credit or respect for, write a proper novel or novella. But anyway... **

**Chau!**

**And look on the bright side. It was this or 'They lived happily ever after.' And there's too many of them.**


	22. Difference

"If only..."

(((((((())))))))

"Come on Groose!" Shouted Link, as he ran through the forest. Vaulting bushes, dodging trees, he made his way towards the camp, Groose following close behind.

'I have to save my daugther! I'm the hero! How can I fail!' He fell upon the camp, and drew his hastilly reclaimed master sword. He and Groose both ran into the camp, armed and ready.

Groose had become more and more companionable during their time together. He had become more humble and more friendly since he decended to the surface, and the way Groose had saved Zelda's life put Link in his debt. He couldn't have chosen anyone better to fight with.

When they rushed into the camp, they were met with stoney faces. An army of Boblokins surrounded them, and were about to draw their weapons. They paused when they saw Link's face: anger, rage and passion burned behind his eyes, and they all sat down again. None would face Link, apart from one.

A huge Boblokin stood up, and pushed a wriggling sack onto the floor. Link's eyes lingered on it, before glaring at the monster.

"That better be my daugther... If she is harmed..." He readied his blade, and the monster just laughed.

"Come, chosen hero!" It croaked, in broken tounge. "Let us see if the Goddess placed her faith well in you!"

The fight didn't last long. The combined works of both Groose and Link left the goblin wimpering on the floor. Groose walked over to it, and quickly finished it off, cutting its neck. The body fell limp, and blood oozed onto the ground as the brute lay there, dead.

Link walked over to the squirming sack, and cut open the top with the tip of the master sword. Impa crawled her way out, and threw herself at her father.

"Dad!" She cried. "I was so scared... Dad.." She started to cry softly, and he held her in his arms, her tears staining his bloodsplattered tunic.

Groose coughed, and gestured to the surrounding crowd. "I don't want to hurry you, but we might want to get out of here..." Impa drew away, and smiled softly at Groose.

"Thanks, Uncle... Why have you come, too?" She asked, hobbling over to the exit. Link saw this, and moved in to support her, putting her arm around his shoulder and supporting her.

"Oh, you know me." He smiled back, and put his arm round the other shoulder. "I wouldn't let Link take all the glory."

The trio reached the exit, and Link glanced wryly to his side. "Say... Would you like to be the godfather?" He asked.

"Uhhhh..." Said a stunned Groose. "Sure... But what about-" He was cut off by the glint of metal in the corner of his eye. He turned, to see a horrific picture: Link collapsing, blood on the ground, and a rusty longsword through his chest.

Groose flew round and chopped at the attacker, who instantly fell to the vicious onslaught. The other, advancing Boblokins stopped in their path, scared by an enraged Groose. He was not detered by this, however, and continued to slash his way through the retreating foes.

Impa was kneeling down by Link's side, her tears splashing onto his now bare chest. Impa was hurredly trying to fashion bandages out of his tunic, but Link stopped her.

"Impa..." He muttered. She looked up, wimpering.

"Why, dad! It was all going okay!" She shouted out in despiration.

"Tell Groose..." He grimaced in pain, but continued. "Tell Groose to look after Zel... He was..." Link grunted again, and squirmed in pain.

"Best... Man... His duty..." He cried out, making Impa sob even louder.

Then, he was at peace, his final breath uttering one, simple word: "Zelda..."

Impa shook him, hit him, shouted at him. It was no use.

Link was dead.

Groose pulled her up, and half carried, half pulled her into the woods. Impa screamed in despair, but Groose pulled her anyway.

"We have to go!" He shouted, and scooped her up in his arms. He ran, disapearing into the trees, Boblokins in hot pursuit.

(((((((())))))))

It was a cloudy, rainy day. The whole town had turned up, to honour the fallen. A solitary, empty grave was surrounded by chairs, and people slowly started filling them up. Pipit and Karane, Gaepora, Peatrice. The whole town.

Eventually, the last three somberly walked to the aisle. One, dressed in a black tunic and trousers, sat down at the front row, already crying. The other two, a man and a woman, with matching rings glittering on their hands, sat nearest to the coffin. The lady rested her head on his shoulder, but held back her tears.

The priest, the only man dressed in white, stood, and spoke about how he was the chosen of the Goddess, how he could wield the triforce, how he was the one to claim the master sword. This must be her will, he said, and her plans for the fallen would be fair and just. Eventually, he stopped, and the coffin was lowered into the grave.

Soon, people started to file away. Relatives and friends like Gaepora and Karane offered their condolences, and eventually so did Groose. Impa, too, left, until it was just Zelda, standing by herself, next to the grave of her late husband, and oldest friend.

'If only... What if things had been different? What if he wasn't the chosen one... What if he wasn't special? What if it was... Groose...'

(((((((())))))))

**And so ends, properly, my story. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As an update, I'm going to be writing a few one shots on ideas I had during this writting process, so check in every now and then. **

**And as always.**

**Rendez-vous plus tard!**


	23. New Begining

**Okay, the last one didn't happen. That was just me making comparisons to what COULD have happened. This is continuing on from the original story arc. So Link isn't the hero, he's just died, and Groose is married to Zelda. I just got bored.**

**(((((((())))))))**

Zelda walked back to her house, still dressed in black. Passing by a few mourning friends, she eventually reached her house. Opening the door, she solemnly walked in, and sat on her couch. Resting her eyes, she allowed herself to relax, and think about her friend.

She wasn't given much time to think, however, as Groose had followed her in. He sat opposite her, but didn't relax, and stared at her for a while.

"Sorry, Groose. I should have told you." Zelda eventually said.

"Yeah. You should have." Groose shook his head, and slumped back in his chair. "Zelda... Why? Did I not satisfy you? Was there something wrong?" He asked, squeezing the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger.

"It was late, we were drunk... I'm sorry, Groose. It was a long time ago." She kept her eyes closed, and rubbed her forehead.

"It wasn't though, was it." Groose shook his head, and flew up, crossing over to the side of the room.

"You think I didn't notice? The smiles, the kisses. I'm not blind, you know." He leaned against the wall.

"Why, Zelda? Well! Why!" He suddenly started to shout, and Zelda finally opened her eyes.

"Did you see yourself before!" She shouted back, getting up and striding over to him. "How many girls did you have before we got married, huh? Is it likely you've been faithful to me too?"

Groose looked her straight in the eye. "I never cheated on you, Zelda. You were enough for me. Apparently, I wasn't enough for you."

"I wonder why." She said. She didn't mean it, but she didn't care: she just wanted to end the argument.

Groose's eyes burned with rage, and he raised his fist, as if to hit her. Zelda didn't flinch, but before he hit her, the door opened. Groose dropped his fist, and glared at her, walking away and racing up the stairs.

"Ummmm..." Said Karane, who stood awkwardly beside the door. "Did I... Interrupt something important?" She asked nervously. She still wore her black, like Zelda, and had seemingly abandoned Pipit.

"No. Just Groose." She said. "Do you want to come in?" Karane nodded, and the pair sat next to each other on the couch, facing one another.

"How are you coping?" Asked Karane. Red rings surrounded her eyes, and she had obviously been crying previously.

"Okay. There isn't really a word for it." Karane nodded in response. "I mean, what are we supposed to do? Just, carry on?" She stared off into the middle distance, but eventually Karane brought her back.

"Hey..." She started out. "I was thinking..." Zelda held out a hand, and stopped Karane talking.

"I'm not thinking about him, okay? He isn't coming back this time. It's over."

Karane carried on, oblivious to Zelda's warning. "Will you listen for a minute? I was just thinking... I could be wrong, but you _are_ effectively the Goddess, right?" She asked, timidly.

"Yeah." She said. "I try not to think about it. It isn't always nice, having that kind of power. The less I use, the less guilty I feel about using it."

Karane sighed. "Oh... Well, if that's the case, then I don't really think my idea will work..." She looked at the ground, downcast, until she eventually guilt tripped Zelda into asking:

"Okay, what if I _did_ be a Goddess for a day. What were you thinking?"

Karane's eyes were suddenly full of hope, like a child's at a fair. "Well... Couldn't you just zap him back to life? That would be enough, surely..."

Zelda shook her head. "He wouldn't be Link. His soul has drained, and all that is left is his body. He would be awake, but not alive. A kind of zombie, almost." Karane sighed, and looked back down towards the floor, sad at having let herself be fooled that there could be a way to revive him.

"I should go down to the surface. Visit the temple. Maybe Hylia could help... Ease the pain..." Karane nodded in agreement with her, and Zelda got up.

"Now?" Karane asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah. I can't take this much longer..." She stared apologetically at the floor. "You don't mind, do you?"

(((((((())))))))

Opening the door to the temple, Zelda quietly stole inside. Her soft cotton socks made no sound on the stone floor, and she tip toed inside.

Eventually, taking a seat in the middle of the temple, she kneeled down, and dipped her head. Closing her eyes, she relaxed, and suddenly felt at peace. Here, she was closest with Hylia, and could communicate with the deity with more ease.

'I wish... I wish he was still alive.' She thought to herself. 'I wish I wasn't feeling this pain! I wish I wasn't special, that instead I was just a face in the crowd, free to spend my life with my lover. I would do anything.'

She looked up, as if expecting a response. When none came, she dipped her head again, and a tear splashed onto the floor.

_Anything?_

Zelda looked up again. She had heard an echo, but whether it was in the temple or her head, she could not tell.

'Yes.' She thought. 'Anything.'

_If it meant your life? If it meant me?_

Zelda realised her mouth was moving of its own accord, but the words were not in her voice, instead in the majestic and tranquil tones of her Goddess.

She waited a while before responding. She stood up, and spoke to the temple, the sound echoing around the stony walls.

"Yes."

There was silence. Did she cross some kind of line? Forsaking her Goddess for a man?

_Very well. You shall have this freedom._

Zelda beamed. She could have her friend back! She could have her life back!

_On one condition. You will be an ordinary girl after this transaction. Your hero will be removed from his role. Another couple will be blessed. You are certain you wish to do this?_

Zelda nodded, and there was silence. She looked around, as if expecting something to change.

Then, suddenly, a white light blinded her. Her body was thrown, but didn't move, and eventually she could see again. She was in the same place, her temple. But it wasn't _hers_ now, was it?

Eventually, she found something that confirmed her suspicions. The master sword, which she had created and formed, was in the corner of the temple, lazily tossed there by some man. She walked over to it, and nudged it slightly, trying to activate it.

"Fi? Helloooooo?" She called out to it. After a little while, the majestic humanoid presented itself, floating above the ground.

"Analysis of the surrounding area gives a 69% chance that you were given help by the Goddess. Has she not forsaken us?" Fi stated clinically.

"Fi? What are you talking about?" Zelda asked, confused.

"There is a 6% chance you knew my name before this instance. Is there still hope?" She stated, again not showing emotion.

"Fi? Stop being like this! You know I _thought_ of your name! Tell me what is happening!" She shouted, stamping her foot.

"Due to your current frame of analysis, there is a 69% chance I would increase the level of memory loss you now have a 91% chance of being inflicted with. Withdrawing. Help."

Fi drew back into her sword, and no matter how much she kicked it, Fi wouldn't come back out. Sighing, she made her way towards the temple doors, and into her new life.


	24. Changes Everywhere

Zelda flew up to the island in the sky. Her loftwing had greeted her as usual, and she didn't see anything different.

She wondered about what had happened to Link's loftwing. Did it die with him, or what?

But he isn't dead now, is he? She has changed time for the better, made up for Hylia's mistakes. Nothing could go wrong now!

Finally, she reached the lake on which she lived on, and her house stood proudly there, glimmering in the sunlight. She dismounted, and walked happily to the front door.

Before she could knock, however, the door was thrown open, and _he_ was standing there. In all his glory, standing there like her knight in shining armour. Before she had time to say, however, she was dragged inside.

"What the hell were you doing, Zelda? I was worried sick!" Said Link, holding her at arms length by the shoulder.

"What do you mean? Look, I've got something to tell you..." She was cut off by an annoyed Link.

"I mean why were you even outside! You know it's dangerous to go alone. You should have at least asked me to go with you. Where did you go anyway?" He asked, shaking his head.

"Why are you so worried about this? I only went down to the surface-"

Link threw his hands up in the air, and started to shout. "The surface! Are you mad? You know that place is forbidden!" He yelled, and turned away, shaking his head.

Zelda was very confused now, and was veering on tears. "I'm sorry, Link." He didn't turn round, and walked over to a table, shuffling some papers.

"Link? I don't know..." She snuffled, and Link turned, seeing her about to cry. His anger fell off him like a coat, and he rushed over to comfort her.

"It's alright." He whispered, hugging a trembling Zelda. He stroked her hair as he slightly rocked her, soothing the eruption of tears that would have followed.

"I'm sorry, Zel. I didn't want to make you sad. It's just... I was really worried about you, Zel. Don't do that again, okay?" She nodded slightly. "Okay. I'll cook us something. Are you going to be fine now?" Another nod.

Link released her, then disappeared off into their kitchen, leaving Zelda on her own.

Sudden solidarity left Zelda with a change to purvey her surroundings. There was generally less furniture, and it was all in different places.

She wondered what else had changed. She looked down, and saw a different ring on her finger, a slender ruby one.

'So, you're not going to address the fact that Link was acting up? Or that Fi was utterly hopeless?' She thought to herself.

'That was a thing, though. Why had Link been so stressed about her being gone? Had something happened to make him like this?

'Has something gone wrong?

'The goddess has changed time, there should be differences. Link is alive, and I'm married to him. It's all I need, isn't it? It's what I asked for.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by Link calling her. She stood up, and walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" She asked. Link was circling around a pan, and had two plates he was loading up.

"Oh, go sit down. I'll bring it to you." Zelda went to sit on their dining table, but almost fell over. The table and chairs had disappeared, to be replaced by windows and another couch.

"Over there, Zel..." Said Link. He walked to the other side of the kitchen, and placed the two plates on a smaller table, made for two.

"Are you okay?" He asks, sitting down on the chair on one side of the table, and gesturing for her to sit.

"You're a little off. Where did you go anyway?"

"Oh..." She sat down and lowered her head, hiding her face. "I do feel a little ill." She lied. "Why are you so worried for me anyway?"

Link gawped at her, and sat back in his chair. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps I thought you had been killed or captured, or Demise had got you, or anything. You shouldn't have just wondered off."

Zelda had dropped her fork, and was staring at Link. "Demise? But wasn't he..."

"He beat Pipit. You know this, don't you?" Asked Link, with a questioning look on his face.

'So Pipit was the chosen hero this time... But he failed?'

"Yeah, I know it... But why is Demise here?" She asked. Link shook his head in response.

"Do I have to explain everything to you? Yes, Demise is here. I thought he had gotten to you. Understand why I was worried?" He stated pointedly.

'Demise lives? But... But... The chosen hero seals him away... The world is doomed...' Zelda stared at her food with a blank expression as she processed this new information.

"Oh, I got some news from your dad. Demise has called a meeting. It's not exactly optional, either. Anyone who isn't there, dies."

'Demise is calling a meeting? This makes no sense...' She decided to stay quiet, however, as not to show how clueless she really was.

The pair ate their meal in silence, and eventually, when the time came, Link told Zelda to "Grab your coat." The duo left, arm in arm, and made their way to the centre square.

When they got there, there was already a crowd of people surrounding a wooden platform. The raised area had a t-shape on the top, with a noose hanging from the end. 'Now this is certainly different...' Zelda thought to herself.

After a long wait, a figure appeared, as if by magic, atop the platform. Zelda gasped, as she recognised it as Ghirham, the sadistic demon lord. Everyone else in the crowd just looked on, and Link didn't even bat an eyelid.

"You are all my masters playthings. You shall do as WE tell you to." The perverted demon shouted into the crowd.

"Let this be an example of that. Bring forward the _chosen hero_." The last words were said with such hate that they were spat from his mouth in anguish.

Pipit was shoved onto the platform, clothing torn, cuts covering his body, and blood dripping from his mouth.

"Make it quick, you perverted son of a bitch!" He shouted, earning a slap from Ghirham.

"Learn to speak with a tighter tounge, peon. For that, you can hang yourself." The demon lord pushed the tortured Pipit to the noose, and threw him a stood. Zelda watched with an expressionless face, shocked at what was happening around her.

"Any last words, mortal?" Asked Ghirham, ready to kick the stood from under Pipit.

"How about 'fuck you'." Pipit stared straight ahead of him, and the demon lord laughed, and kicked the chair from underneath.

Soon, there was just a limp body, hanging from a rope. He was cut down, and pushed off the edge, to mould away under the dirt.

"Let this be a lesson. Disperse, peons." Stated the demon. Link held a shaking Zelda as they slowly made their way back home.

"It was going to happen. It was only a matter of time, really." He bluntly said.

"Pipit died as he lived. Fighting evil. We will never forget him." Said another.

"He was a good knight. Shame he was the only one." All the men bent their heads in respect, and the women closed their eyes, as if the whole town was in prayer.

'I'm changing this. I'm seeing the Goddess, no matter what the consequences are. This will not continue.'


	25. Midnight Escapades

Zelda sat up in her bed. The light from the moon illuminated her as she got up, and changed into something more suitable: a simple black pullover and trousers. She examined herself in the mirror, and found she was in no way invisible in the darkness: her bright, blonde hair made her stand out, and shook around her whenever she moved.

Sighing, she pushed her hair into the back of her shirt, and looked back: it wasn't much of a disguise at all, but it would have to do. Walking out the door, she went to try and change history. Again.

She sneaked out the door, and found her loftwing, tied up where she had left her. It whined softly as she slipped the chain from its neck.

"You'll understand. I'll explain later, okay?" She soothed her bird, and stroked its feathers. Content with this, the bird lowered itself so Zelda could mount.

"Where do you think you're going-" Whispered a voice behind her. The owner pulled her back, and forced her onto the ground. "Little girl."

Zelda didn't have a chance to scream; her attacker forced his hand over Zelda's mouth, and she squirmed under his grip, twisting and turning.

"Quiet, girl!" The figure lifted its head, and the moonlight played across his features, illuminating his face. Zelda's eyes widened in fear as she recognised the man who had killed Pipit: Ghirahim.

No matter how much she squirmed, she couldn't get away from his iron grip. Eventually, he got bored, and shook her.

"Stay still, you insufferable wench!" He whispered. He kneeled over her, pinning her arms back with his legs, but kept his hand over her mouth.

"Stop moving!" He said annoyed, easily pinning her to the ground. "If you want to live, stop this irrelevant fight."

Zelda slowly calmed down, but her mind was still racing. 'What's he going to do to me... Hang me like Pipit? Or maybe something worse...'

"Good. Now, I can't help but notice how you are outside. Care to tell me why?" He spoke like a gentleman, but his meaning was more than vicious. He removed his hand from her mouth so she could speak.

"Nothing..." Zelda blurted out quickly, too scared to come up with a good lie. Ghirahim just laughed.

"Nothing? Ha! You think I am stupid, girl?" He slammed her head into the ground, winding her. "Tell me what you were doing!" He was shouting now, and was pushing his weight down onto her, hurting and squishing her.

"Surface..." She whispered, in terrible pain. Instead of laughing, Ghirahim raised his eyebrows in question.

"Well well, who has been a naughty girl... Mind telling me why, princess?" He took on a patronising tone, and a condescending stare: not that Zelda cared. She just wanted him off.

"To see the sights..." She muttered feebly, looking away from his glare.

"Don't lie!" He suddenly snarled, making Zelda jump. "Why shouldn't I just kill you." He stated. His hand started to curl around her throat, cutting her breath off inch by inch.

"Well?" He asked again. Zelda just grasped to his hand, but to no avail, not managing to loosen the iron grip of his slender fingers.

"Don't want to answer? Fine. I'll let you take time to think." His grip loosened, and Zelda spluttered and coughed, gasping in air.

"Still nothing?" He asked, after Zelda had recovered. "Maybe the implements of the dungeon will loosen your tounge... Or maybe your bones..." He whispered threateningly. Before she could react, Zelda was hauled upright, and held so her feet just scraped the ground. With no hand stopping her now, she screamed for all it was worth, as she was slowly dragged to the horror of this dungeon.

Ghirahim stopped halfway there, and as if to show off his prise, he held Zelda by the scruff of the neck, shouting to the village. "Hear ye, hear ye! Look who misbehaved, everyone! This... Thing is going to the dungeon. Anyone want to help her?" He shouted out. A small crowd of strangers collected, people who were working late or had come to see the source of the shouting. There was general muttering as the demon waved his prise above his head, laughing at the meekness of humankind.

"None? You would allow your own to die? How about you!" He pointed into the crowd, and they separated to show her hero, boldly standing in front of Ghirahim.

"Link! Link! Please help!" Zelda shouted, kicking her legs as she dangled on the demon's arm. Link lifted his head to look at her, not with a smile or an anger, but with a sorrow.

"Link!" She shouted out again, but still her hero did nothing. Amongst a backdrop of Ghirahim's demonic laughter, Link hung his head in defeat, and shuffled his feet.

"Your not up for a fight?" Asked Ghirahim. He held Zelda behind his back, and took a sparing pose, a thin rapier appearing in his hand. "Yah!" He shouted, daintily mocking her hero.

Eventually, he dropped the pose, and started to drag Zelda along the ground.

"You humans never are fun. Well, goodbye, mighty one!" He shouted sarcastically. "May we cross blades again!" With the last word, he threw his sword down at Link's feet, but Link didn't move to grab it, to try to save her.

He had given up hope. No matter how much she cried as she was dragged towards what she suspected would be a long, drawn out death, Link just stood their, feet together, staring shamefully at the ground. As she got further away, she saw various friends moving in to console him.

'It's like I'm already dead...' Was her last coherent thought. The rest was just chains, shackle, rags, rust, nail, hammer, pain. Scream.

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**Not as long as usual, and I apologise for this. But the only time I have has been taken up by awesome next gen PC's, and I haven't had much time for this. Soz, brohimes. But this isn't the end, it will just take a little longer.**

**As always.**

**To be continued.**


	26. Plan Nope

She was hanging by her wrists, her feet dangling above the cold, stone floor. Dried blood formed lines on her ragged body, and the drips on the floor had started to form a puddle. Starving, hurt and bleeding, Zelda had given up.

She had been given a brief respite from the pain she had received, but she knew it wasn't going to last. Either she was going to break, or her mind was.

She wondered what it would be like to be simply a shell. Like the other townspeople. They didn't seem to feel the pain, the humiliation that was imposed on them. Like Link was now.

She had been here for a day, maybe two. The hours were long, and she couldn't count well when Ghirahim was working on her. But her hero would have at least tried to save her, would have mounted an escape. She hadn't even heard scuffling.

But no, no time to mull over his actions. Ghirahim was back, with a particularly malicious look in his eyes. He held a wrench, and brandished it in her face before she could back away.

"Care to talk, my girl?" When Zelda didn't answer, Ghirahim frowned again.

"How about if I ask you like this?" He took her neck, and held it to his lips. "My beautiful woman, would you mind informing me why your midnight escapades took you to the surface?"

Again, no answer. Zelda just shrank back, and Ghirahim glared at her. "If you must..." He lifted his wrench, and took her finger in the gap. He pulled.

Zelda screamed out in pain. She tried to scramble away, but her chains and his grip held her in place.

"I'm tired of this, girl!" He shouted. "Why did you go! Tell me!" He shook her, and Zelda felt as if her finger would tear from it's socket.

In between her cries, she finally gave in. "P-p-please..." She managed to whisper, her voice hoarse from screaming.

Suddenly his grip was released, and she dropped to the floor again, defeated. 'Anything to stop this.'

"What is it, my girl? Care to finally confess?" His wrench still hovered threateningly at her finger, as if to start where he left off.

"Y-yes..." She spluttered. Blood ran from her mouth as she spoke, but Ghirahim's simply smiled.

"Wonderful!" He stated. "Was it for fun? For some fabricated excuse?" He frowned again, and held her throat. "There are consequences for lying, girl."

Zelda didn't think she could cope with a harder punishment. All thoughts of trickery dispelled from her head, and she simply said the truth.

"To see the Goddess."

The look of surprise on Ghirahim's face stunned her. She had seen him angry, bemused, taunting, but she had never caught him off his guard.

He quickly recovered, however, but instead of malice, there was a plan forming behind his evil eyes. "Well well well... We really have been naughty, have we not?" He tutted, and Zelda just starred at the floor.

"Maybe you can help me... But why did you go, my girl?" He asked, condesending.

"Because I wanted to change the past. But I failed..." She spoke to herself.

"My my... Arn't you a selfish one?" And although it was just another insult, it struck deep.

All this was because of her. The pain, the suffering, the constant killings. She had failed her people, even if she wasn't the Goddess any more. She had brought this to her people. They must hate her now. Her one, selfish desire had backfired, and it was all her fault.

"Shall we take a trip back there, girl?" The demon asked suddenly. Zelda's eyes widened, and the shadow of hope entered her heart.

'Maybe I can talk to her again... Maybe I can undo all this...' Zelda finally looked Ghirahim in the eye, and gave a solid "Yes."

(((((((())))))))

"This place is better than your architecture. A shame I will have to destroy it..." Muttered Ghirahim, as the pair approached the cracked temple. Huge shatter marks ran down the edge of the building, and it looked liable to fall apart,

"Shame." Zelda parroted. She saw no reason to disagree with him: this version of the temple wouldn't exist if her plan went smoothly.

Now that she thought about it, however, she realised that there was no plan. Talk to a dead Goddess? Link had come up with crazier plans... But it was the only chance she had.

Before she could walk in, Ghirahim held her shoulder. Clearly, he felt a softer approach would be needed, and Zelda was thankful. She didn't need more pain.

"Perhaps whilst you are... Doing something in there, you can do me a favour?" He asked. Zelda just nodded. "Talk to the sword." He said simply, and shoved her toward the gate.

'Fi!' Thought Zelda, as she walked into the temple. 'She appeared to me before... Maybe she could help again...'

She entered the temple, and the discarded sword lay in the same place she had previously found it: in a corner, casually thrown there.

She approached quickly, and sat next to the sword. Although every inch of her skin seared in pain when she moved, she had to make it seem natural: she had to try and coax a reaction out of Fi, even if it made Ghirahim happy.

"Fi?" She asked the sword. "Are you still there?" No answer came from the sword, she she tried again. "Fi? I really need your help. Please?"

When the stony walls fell silent, Zelda dropped her head in gloom. It was a stupid idea... Talking to a sword...

Just as she was about to get up, a faint blue glow came from the handle of the sword. A rustling grew in the background, which she eventually made out to be a voice.

"There is a... 27... 99... 65% chance you are here on my other half's request. Is this true?"

Other half? Wait... Are Ghirahim and Fi related to each other? Zelda knew they were both, at heart, swords, but she didn't know they had a connection.

"You mean Ghirahim? Then yes." She nodded. The light dimmed, and the voice grew fainter.

"I have a 9... 64... 54% chance to want to converse with you. What do you wish to talk about?" Came the clinical voice.

Zelda huffed. "How about the fact that I don't like being tortured? How I don't want this to exist. How I hate being here..." She looked down at the ground, and could feel the shadow of a tear on her face.

"I have an 8% chance to help. Anything else?" Fi sounded as if she didn't care, and Zelda knew she didn't. After all, she made her.

"You know what else, Fi. Why are you talking to me, Fi? How do I know your name, Fi? How come I knew that you are a sword? You suspect the answers, Fi. Tell me.

The sword glowed again, with a much stronger blue light. It played along Zelda's face, steeling her features.

"There is a 6... 85... 31% chance you are not from this area. A further 15% chance you are not associated with this time line." The sword had an aura around it now, and the light spread from the handle to the tip of the blade, lighting up the nearby walls.

"Fi. I need to speak to someone. You know who I am now. Let me speak with... Myself." Zelda closed her eyes, but remained seated, remembering how she always connected best when at total ease.

'_You wish to speak with me, my conduit?' _Whispered Zelda. She replied back in the same low whisper.

"This world... It's terrible. There is no peace, no rules, no freedom. I want to go home." She tried to compare the serenity she felt when relaxing at her home, compared to the pain she felt when relaxing in the dungeon.

_'But I gave you freedom. I gave you your lover. Was this not enough?' _Asked her otherworldly self.

"Even if I am just a shell of your wisdom, just a shred of it is needed to tell that this was the wrong choice. No matter how much I went through, the pain I felt, it was nothing to how your people are now. Take me home, Goddess. Please."

There was just silence. Then: _'Fi... Do as instructed. If this goes wrong, there will be changes. And Zelda. I hope you have learnt a lesson... Everything I do, I do it for my people. Follow in my footsteps.'_

With those words, her presence was lifted, and Zelda was left with a heavily glowing sword. She stood up, and starred at the sword. "Do it."

Suddenly, she was enveloped in a blue glow, and was pushed into the air. Suddenly, Fi appeared from her sword, and although she seemed almost see-through and fading, she looked as casual as ever.

The glow around her started to spin, however, and went faster and faster. Blue energy flowed like water from around Fi, and fed the vortex surrounding Zelda. The flow started to lessen and lessen, and Fi looked almost about to fade entirely, until a crashing was heard.

Ghirahim had entered.

He crashed through the doorway, and half tackled, half grabbed the unresisting Fi. In half a second, the power flowing into the vortex started to channel into Ghirahim. He started to laugh.

But Zelda was staring, horrified, at Fi. Her wide eyes were not of fear, shock, or even neutral. This time, it was of acceptance. Fi was doomed, Ghirahim had finally claimed her. As Zelda faded away, back to her own reality, she saw the flicker of a frown pass across her companion's lips. And for a creature with no emotions, it must really mean pain.

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**Not creepy at all...**

**If any of you can write a one sentence review, I'll use it on the description. The one I have really doesn't do this justice any more.**


	27. Forgetfulness

Zelda woke up. She was resting on the immaculate temple floor, the white walls sparkling.

'Has it worked? Am I back?' She thought to herself. Everything was in the right place, her clothing had returned to normal... But something did go wrong, didn't it...

The image of Fi being taken by Ghirahim was seared into her mind. The pain she had put people through... She would never be weak again. She couldn't take those around her being hurt so much. Never again.

She walked outside, and whistled. Her loftwing descended from the sky, and floated down beside her. Squalking, it seemed unchanged as well. It didn't even seem angry at her for chaining her up. Maybe she was home...

Mounting the loftwing, she took to the skies, making a checklist of things to do.

'Apologise to Groose... Comfort Impa... Visit Link's grave...' She decided to visit her dead friend. It was the least she could do.

Touching down on the edge of the island, she walked solemnly to Link's final resting place. There, near the gravestones, was where she knew her lover was laid to rest.

But when she got there, the headstone was gone, and the earth was flat and untouched. Likewise, Kale's was missing too, again having just disappeared.

'Things may have gone wrong... Things may have changed...'

Her breathing quickened. Her heart raced.

'Could he be alive?' She didn't dare to think of it, unless she might be proved wrong. It could be a cruel jape by Hylia... An evil force at work. But if it had brought her friend back, she could embrace the evil with open arms. She would have her hero to protect her now.

Running back over the edge, she leapt back onto her loftwing, and sailed high above the land, searching for a particular blonde haired boy. Searching for several minutes, she couldn't see anyone. Hoping to get lucky, she landed outside the Bazaar, and strolled in.

Having a quick look around, she couldn't see her friends spiky hair and casual clothes. She did see the usual gang, however: she spotted Groose, the crazy fortune teller, even a different looking Kale. She walked over to him, hoping for an answer to her questions.

He was searching through a stack of clothing when she spoke. "Ummm..." She started, not brilliantly. He looked round casually.

"Yeah? It's... Zelda, right?" His eyes flowed over her body, unnerving her even more, but she blazed on.

"Yeah. I was just wondering... Do you know where Link is?" She asked, stuttering over her words.

Kale looked at her condesendingly. "Link? You mean that blonde haired guy? Well, I _guess_ he would be in the academy, but I wouldn't really know. On the other hand... Do you want to get a drink some time?" He smiled, still checking her out.

Zelda just shook her head. Link had told her her that Kale was like this, but she hadn't expected it to be this full on. After a quick, and a bit of a harsh denial, she walked to the academy. As good an idea as any.

Upon walking in, she thought: 'Why didn't I just check his room to begin with? But that would mean my story ark being cut short and the story being shorter... Wait, what?'

Dismissing her thoughts, she walked up to his door. Gingerly knocking, she braced herself for the meeting.

The door swung open, and _he_ stood there. The light shining around him him, the shadow playing on the walls. Her hero stood before her again, safe and sound.

"Yes? Do you want anything?" He asked. Zelda blinked, and slightly shook herself.

"Ummm... How are you..." She slowly stated. She could tell something was wrong... He had never been this hostile for no apparent reason.

"What? I'm fine... Look, why are you here?" He stated again, more aggressive than before. Zelda was slightly taken aback, but still wasn't fully there.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing..." She said slowly. Link just shook his head.

"Crazy..." He whispered. "Look... Zelda, yeah? I'm doing some work. Do you mind, like, not interrupting me, yeah? Enough stress as it is..." And he shut the door on her. Just like that. But before he could, even in her shocked state, she spied some objects behind him: some kind of a blowing machine, and some kind of huge gloves...

'Did he just... What the fuck is going on?' Only now did she recognise what had been going on. Kale had forgotten her, Link just didn't care, hell, even Groose looked different.

History had changed, again. But why? She walked back to her room, still slightly shocked, but coping with it.

'So... What's happened, exactly? I've been wiped from history? No, they still know my name... I must have changed. Well, I must have been different before...

'Is this because of Fi? The Goddess mentioned complications... Maybe... Because of Ghirahim attacking Fi, maybe something went wrong, right? That's the only way I could see...

'She can't be doing this on purpose again, could she? That would be more than mean... Evil, even.'

She eventually reached her room, and went in. The general feeling of the room was the same, and not much was changed. Except...

She looked at her wardrobe, and there was a glittering, red, jewled butterfly clipped there.

She had made that when she was still pretty young, just as she was introduced to Link. She had even given it to him, and he used to wear it until he inevitably lost it.

'So... I'm really not friends with Link any more...' She sat on her bed as she processed this new information. She had always just accepted that they would be friends; she never expected it to be otherwise.

She knew it was only a matter of time before she would start to cry. But all she could think was:

'Why me!'


	28. New Dog, Old Tricks

**'Write Jon!'**

**'I don't want to write!'**

**'Write! You're pissing people off!'**

**'No! I will not write!'**

**'There's going to be an M scene soon!'**

**'I'll write.'**

**The argument I had in my head. Really.**

(((((((())))))))

'You know how, when you wake up after crying, everything should be jolly? Well it's a lie.'

Zelda woke up feeling just as bad as she had done when she fell asleep. Somehow she managed to hold back the tears, but she knew it wouldn't be for long.

Pushing herself from her bed, she forced herself to get dressed, get a bag, get some rupees. Everything seemed like a chore. Even opening the door seemed laborous, like there was no point to it at all. And really, there wasn't anymore.

Step after step, walking up to the Bazaar, pushed herself. Even the sorrow in her heart couldn't overpower the need to eat, and she bought a small sandwich from the shop, and trudged up to the edge of the island, thinking it could lift her heart. It couldn't.

'I could jump.' She thought to herself, legs dangling over the edge of the world. 'Jump and not call for my loftwing. That would work.'

She shook her head slightly, and bit at her solitary meal. 'No. Someone might find me. Wouldn't want to seem like the lonely person...'

Wondering what she could do, her head lulled to one side, where she espied Link. Sitting on a platform was him and his bird, casually hanging out and chatting. Well, Link talking to his bird.

'What the hell. I could always throw myself over _after_ I talk to him.' With that thought, she swung her legs off the edge of the world, and started to walk toward the love of her life. Her meaning. The guy who closed a door on her face.

Link saw her before she got to him, however, and looked down abashed.

"Hey... Zelda? Zelda. Want to sit down?" He asked, casually, perhaps too much so.

She shrugged her shoulders, but said, "Yeah, sure."

With a burst of speed, Link pushed his loftwing off the platform in a flurry of feathers. The disgruntled squalk almost made Zelda laugh. Almost.

Link nodded his head to where the loftwing previously lay, and Zelda laid her bag in front of her and she sat down, crossed legged in front of Link. After a few moments of silence, Link spoke up.

"I'm sorry how I snapped at you yesterday. I was just a little... off, I guess." He gives Zelda a weak smile. "That's really not the kind of person I am."

'Maybe... maybe this isn't all bad. Link seems to be fun, he seems to be clever, he doesn't seem to be the bastard I hated yesterday... Maybe things won't be so bad...'

"It's fine. I feel the same, too, sometimes. Like I'm somebody else." the words couldn't have been more true. over the past week, she had been literally trading bodies. It would feel good to be herself again, with a Link she trusted, instead of a... a... a timid bunny, or a dead-

She stopped herself right there. 'Link isn't dead anymore. He's in front of me. Here.'

Link smiled back at her, properly this time, after his apology had been accepted. "So how are you Zelda? Or do you prefer Zel?" He asked, with hint of something playing on his lips.

And suddenly it feels like it isn't a new Link at all. He is being friendly to her, but apart from that, he had come up with his life long nickname for her in just a few seconds. Maybe they were fated to be together for some reason...

Same old Link. A different past, but the same present. And hopefully, a different future.

"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" She asked him, and again he didn't falter.

"Same old same old. You know me. or rather, you don't..." Confusion settled on his face. "I never really thought about that. I thought I knew everyone on the island, but it turns out I don't know you? Why is that?" He questions.

Somehow, she feels that now isn't a good time to go into the Goddess, getting sent to an alternate reality, having Fi killed in front of her as the Goddess tries to put things back right. "I kept to myself a lot." She said lamely, and it sounded so boring that she had to follow it up with something.

"Hey, I heard you went on some kind of an adventure or something..." It was a fair bet that he did, since she saw all the gadgets in his room, but she wanted to animate him, to convince herself it was really her old Link.

He responds exactly how she wants him to, head shooting up and eyes open with a mix of joy and excitement, but maybe still a hint of confusion.

"Yeah, I did! Do you really not know about that?" He shakes his head, dismissing the thought. "How would you know, if I never told you?"

She looks a little at him. "You really expect me to miss it? Everyone talks about you, Link!" Zelda smiles, to make sure he knows its a joke, and he laughs loudly.

"Okay, Maybe it was a little silly of me." And with that, the lie passes over his head that she has been here for more than a day. "Maybe... no." He shakes his head, and looks out on to the sky.

"Maybe what?" Zelda asks him, intrigued to know what he was thinking.

"Well..." He responds, a little mischief creeping into his looks, "Do you want to come see where I got all my gadgets? You must have seen them yesterday. And I'm pretty sure it's the only time you'd have been in my room."

'Little do you know...' She responded with, again, another smile. She was a lot happier than she had been, say, five minutes ago, considering suicide over social torment. "I would love to, Link."

He jumps up, and lifts her by the hand upright, leading her towards his bedchamber. Zelda never really questioned why he hadn't moved out, or done something with his life. Maybe because he had no need to; the hero would hardly need a job, with excess food being given to him by all his friends and family. Maybe, after the luxury of being treated like a king, you need to be treated like a student again. Or maybe he is still just as lazy as ever.

Eventually, the pair reach Link's room, and after some light banter if it is proper for a Lady to be in a man's room alone, the verdict being Zelda hardly qualified as a Lady, they entered.

It looked almost exactly the same as when he had gone. Trinkets laid out here and there, scattered all over the place. Bed untidy, with the covers scruched up like before, But one thing catches her eye.

"What's this?" She asks, holding up a white sailcloth with simple, silver markings on it. She wants to know the origin, to know if Link had a female admirer.

Link, again, is confused. "That piece of junk? A sail cloth, made by some girl I hardly knew. Why are you focusing on that anyway?" He shakes his head in mock dispair. "There are amazing machines here and there, but you choose a simple bit of cloth? Weird girl..." He mutters.

Zelda's face looks hurt until she realises Link was messing with her.

"Not funny, Link. Bad Link. Sit." She commands playfully, Link obediently sitting on his bed. They both laugh, and quickly both are sitting on the bed. They talk about each others lives, though more about Link's as he is the one who knows about his life.

The topic is suddenly turned onto relationships. Zelda's mind racks itself for some way to change the subject, but it is almost impossible. Before she can stop him, Link asks her:

"Do you like anyone, Zel?" His petname now.

"Well..." She starts out. "There is this one guy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall. But he has hardly noticed me..." It is far to obvious who she is referencing now, but that doesn't stop her. This is what she came for, wasn't it? Maybe pouring her heart out is a little premature after meeting him only once, but she knew him better than he knew himself.

"Maybe he hasn't noticed you. But maybe his eyes are starting to open..."

DRAMATIC PAUSE AS I TAKE A REST AND GO TO SLEEP.


End file.
